Convenience Store Catwalk: Flying J, Laredo

Nice

52 Pick-me-up: Go Geometrical

PURCHASED/ GIFTED/LINKS/

Oops, running late! I'm in the midst of packing for my big road trip -- I leave in less than 24 hours!!!!

This week on 52 Pick-me-up, the challenge is Geometrics.
Think "tribal" or folkloric prints, graphics on tees, triangular pendants, cut gemstones, etc.
If you're really thrown for a loop (harhar), dots, stripes and plaids count too.

I'm wearing one of my favorite driving garments, the Mexican huipil. Made from six panels (rectangles!) of handwoven cotton, it's super comfortable. If it's cold, I add pants, a long sleeve tee, and a warm shawl. I got the it at The Folk Tree in Pasadena. The cotton rebozo (shawl) was found at the mercado in central Oxaca in 1982.
What? More than 30 years ago???

close-up of the top motif

Time to add your geometrical get-ups. Please link and tell!

State of the Art

CREATED/ LINKS/

I am swamped with sketches.
I think this is a good problem to have, but I AM frustrated that I don't have time to get them colored and finished. I mean, I have sketches going back to LAST APRIL still to be completed.
(That darn need for income, forcing me to work the day job. Sigh.)
My latest summary in unpainted sketches of the Simply Stylist event didn't look so bad, so I'm going to go through my backlog and get the rest posted event by event. Maybe if I get bored I can work on them during my road trip.
We shall see...

Let's enter the way-back machine and see the unfinished sketches from Lucky FABB West 2013, a Fashion/ Style/ Beauty Blogger conference that was held at the SLS Hotel on April 4-5, hosted by Lucky Magazine. I wasn't invited to buy a ticket, so I lurked outside the conference in the public areas of the hotel. (You can see five completed sketches on the "Fashion Sketches 2013" page, tabbed up top.) I found a good vantage point next to a blogger photo session Lucky Magazine had set up, and sketched the bloggers as they posed for the professional photographer. None of them knew I was doing this.

unknown identity

unknown identity

Sophie of Angel Food Style

Kier of Fashion Addict

Ashley of Side Smile Style

 Rachael of Everything Hauler

Another spot that I lurked was near the front entrance of the hotel.
Recognize  either of these two?

 

All my sketches were done live with a Pentel brush nib marker.
When I get these sketches painted up in Photoshop, I'll post them in my Society6 SpyGirl portfolio.

Island Fever on Top, Business Chic on Bottom

CREATED/ PURCHASED/ PRESS SAMPLE*/ LINKS/

And a book in my hands!

*sunglasses frames c/o *DITTO

Yes, it's T3 (Thoughtful Third Thursday) time. I know, it's Saturday today. Call it T4: Tardy Thoughtful Third Thursday.

What came first, the outfit or the reading material? OK, I'll confess, I put together the outfit first. A weird mix of neutrals, if you remove the Hawaiian shirt. I found the deep purple tights in the bottom of my drawer which I thought went well with the red-cast navy in the shirt. I became very fond of the color over the course of the day. Alas, the elastic was fried, so it was their swan song. The shell necklaces are Hawaiian luau souvenirs from a fabulous trip to the Big Island in 2005.

"What's the book?" you ask?

Unsuitable for Ladies, by Jane Robinson
That's Osa Johnson on the cover in 1921. Isn't she the bee's knees?

The quote:
"This is not a proper travel book... it is an account of my best horror journeys, chosen from a wide range, recollected with tenderness now that they are past. All amateur travellers have experienced horror journeys, long or short, sooner or later, one way or another. As a student of disaster, I note that we react alike to our tribulations: frayed and bitter at the time, proud afterwards. Nothing is better for self-esteem than survival. ...We're not heroic like the great travellers but all the same we amateurs are a pretty tough breed. No matter how horrendous the last journey we never give up hope for the next one, God knows why." Martha Gelhorn, Travels with Myself and Another

It was a complicated process, but I'll just say this quote found me. Both this book and Martha's have been added to my mobile road trip library. I depart next Thursday! Keep current with the trip here. Pitch in some financial aid here -- every dollar much appreciated!

Linking up with T3 today,
and Patti's Visible Monday tomorrow.

52 Pick-me-up: 30s

PURCHASED/ GIFTED/ LINKS/ 

It's 30's Week on 52 Pick-me-up!
It's all about bias cut dresses with lingerie details.

OK, maybe I have some vintage silk chiffon bias cut lingerie camouflaging my 40's dress.

And maybe the shoes are more 50's?

They are beautiful but WAY too small! I'll be selling them on Etsy after my road trip. Leslie gave them to me.

I also have on a mother of pearl brooch that Bella of Citizen Rosebud gave me.

Not sure of its vintage either.

I suggest that you visit Sammy Davis Vintage who will give you the lowdown on authentic 30's styles.
Me, I got as close as I could. So can you! Link and tell!
PS: this was a total costume moment. I stayed on the back porch in this look.

iPhone Painting: Dawn 3.18

CREATED/ LINKS/

Surprise! This wandered over from my sketch blog (was uploading through my Blogger App on the phone and not paying attention). The dawn got all pinky beautiful and I knew a photo wouldn't capture it. I used the Brushes App (so worth the $4.99).
If you want to see more, click here.

Digital Catwalk: Natalia Wears Red Red Wine

CREATED/ LINKS/ 

Natalia of In the Writer's Closet

Sketching the Simply Stylist Event at the Grove

CREATED/ PRESS PERK*/

As a fashion blogger member of Two Point Oh LA, Simply Stylist gave me a *free ticket to an afternoon of pampering in the park at The Grove. I'll show you the makeovers that Kristen of  Blushington and Calvin of Román Salon gave me later -- right now, I want to share my sketches:

[never mind that 4.7 earthquake that just happened in Westwood near the Getty]

Calvin Louis, Román Salon

Dexter Cobb

Lilly

Mary Lina wearing Mustard Cartel

Will I ever get these digitally painted? I sure hope so!
I was a little bit better at approaching people after I sketched them, but didn't catch everyone.
Let me know if you recognize anyone! (I'll be checking IG, FB, and Twitter when I have time and update).

Let's Laugh

PURCHASED/ PURLOINED/ GIFTED/ AFFILIATE LINKS*/ 

This tee makes me happy:

Severo gave it to me, it's from Newbury Comics, a New England record chain. I think he had a gig there, maybe in Boston.

My new yoga pants and Keds make me happy too:

I grabbed the pants from the sample box at work. It amazes me that I can squish my girth (34" waist) into the sample size Small. Stretchy cotton/spandex is a wonderful thing!

The Keds came from Yoox, via Lyst. Lyst is an affiliate link program. If you click through one of the garment links at the bottom of this blog, I supposedly get compensation. I don't push it very much, mainly because I add the most ridiculously expensive designer items to *"my Lyst of favorites". I use it to research trends, follow certain designers, or find particular fabrications or prints. My favorite thing about it is that Lyst will alert you when a favorited item goes on sale. I can't do much with an Etro paisley shawl "reduced" to $300 except sigh, but these Keds were on sale for $29 and that seemed like a good deal.
They're now sold out, but here are some current styles that caught my eye:

(this is a non-clickable screen grab. The "make a collection" feature was not working for me this morning)

The DOTS!!!!

For someone who "doesn't like sneakers", I'm certainly starting to amass a good collection:

The third (or fourth?) thing that makes me happy is this:

 Secret paisley Happy Socks*! (Why do I have clown feet here? My feet aren't "that" big!)

Have a great Saturday, everyone!
I'm going to a Simply Stylist event at The Grove today (not in this outfit, btw). I'll be wearing my Narrative Clip, to hopefully get some SpyShots of the fashionable goings-on. I'll submit a full report tomorrow soon.

Meanwhile, click on over to The Citizen Rosebud to ogle some fellow ShoeShiners.

52 Pick-me-up: Go Green

CREATED/ PURCHASED/ GIFTED/ PURLOINED/ 

It's almost St Patty's Paddy's Day, when everyone wears green. Let's be sheep and do it too. Baa!

Severo found this coat for me. It's too heavy to wear around town, but it's fun to pose on the back patio with it.

What's underneath:

Patucci made the necklace. It includes SUPERBALLS!

Labels of the vintage coat and scarf:

Did Leslie give me the scarf? Was it her mom's? Can't remember.

Don't risk getting pinched on St Patty's Day. Go green, then link and tell!

An InLinkz Link-up

Sock It To Me, Geometrically

PURCHASED/ PURLOINED/ PRESS SAMPLE*/ LINKS/

This post was prompted (harhar) by Maricel asking about "Geometric" prints and my own confusion over the order of the 52 Pick-me-up prompts. I messed up on the graphic calendar (that gave me mild bursitis, btw) and "Go Green" HAD to be during the week with St. Patrick's Day and it wasn't. I shuffled around the order of the challenges but was still looking at the old calendar. Are you more confused now? Yeah, me too.

Moving along, here are some geometric socks that inspired my look:

Happy Socks. Some of the greatest graphic socks around.
(not sponsored by them but I should be)
And aren't the pansies sweet? They really liked the deluge of rain that we got last week.

*c/o Capwell & Co. necklace, which you can hardly see
just doing my FTC due diligence here, folks

It's still Sock Inspiration week on 52 Pick-me-up.
If you don't have any weird socks or tights, click here for some inspiration.
You don't have to PURCHASE anything.
Just drag the image of your choice to your desktop (or make a screen capture) and use it to compile your outfit.

I'm taking my crazy legs over to Patti's Visible Monday. Can't miss me in this CMYK ensemble.
You have until very early Wednesday morning (PDT -- did you remember to change your clocks forward today?) to link up here.

An InLinkz Link-up

Shop Me, Help a Gal Out

CREATED/ LINKS/ 

Today is International Women's Day -- Girl Power!
I'll get right to the point, I'm asking for funds in this post.

IndieGoGo is running an International Women's Day promotion: they will add $1 for every $25 donated today. What am I talking about? Did you notice the appearance of a crowdfunding widget on my right sidebar? >>>>>>>>>>> 

I'm 19 days away from hitting the road for my On the Edge US project. I will be driving around the country solo until the end of May. That fact is starting to sink in. Lists are starting: wardrobe, art supplies, food, gear, etc. I'm pitching potentially useful items into a box. The suitcase comes out of storage today. I'm still working out the technical issues of the time-lapse component of the project (which is making me insane. It's a major part of it). Will I have to buy a new laptop? Maybe not, after all. What about 52 Pick-me-up? Ummmmm...

I have some cool perks lined up for it, and every little bit contributed will be helpful. The Wawa will get you a waterlogue road art print and get me a tank of gas (325 miles) -- almost a whole day's worth. (I'm planning on driving 350 - 425 miles per day).

I-605, South El Monte, digital watercolor, ©2014 Anne M Bray

Even a dollar will help. I'm serious!


Society6 is also currently running a sale that gets you FREE Shipping and $5 Off Each Item in my Shop only available from special links*. The promotion expires March 9, 2014 at Midnight Pacific Time.
Offer excludes Framed Art Prints, Stretched Canvases and Throw Pillows with insert.

They run these promotions from time to time, but this is the first instance I've seen the free shipping/$5 discount combination. If you want something that you don't see (I've only uploaded Sacramento's 52 Pick-me-up sketch, for instance) leave me a request in the comments. You want your sketch on a mug? Leave a request below. I have to upload specifically sized files for the specialty items and I haven't bothered to do that for everything.

I have three shops, the special link for each is below the respective screenshot:

Anne the SpyGirl, fashion sketches (and a random Heart California print that belongs elsewhere)

*SpyGirl's special discount link

Pattern Recognition by Anne M Bray, patterned items

*Pattern Recognition's special discount link

Anne M Bray, artwork. This is where I'll post the Waterlogues as I get them processed.
(What is Cameron Silver's sketch doing there? I have no idea).

*Anne M Bray's special discount link

Did you notice how the fashion sketches are $10 cheaper?
I wanted to make those more affordable for you all -- I make $2 profit on the mini size, same for mugs.

In case you're baffled by too many options, adding a contribution to my IdieGoGo campaign would be the most helpful.
It runs through April 18th.

Did you read all the way through this? Thanks! Back to the regular fashion fun tomorrow...

52 Pick-me-up: Crazy Legs

CREATED/ PURCHASED/ GIFTED/ 

Loving everyone's libation looks from last week!

Ready for another creative way to get dressed? This week, I'm asking you to find your craziest socks (or legwear) and use those as your sartorial inspiration. You don't have to wear the socks with the outfit. I certainly didn't!

As you are (hopefully) aware, I have my share of crazy socks.
Severo kindly provides me with many, such as the hula girl sample above.

How did these socks inspire me?

The days have long passed that I would wear a bikini top (at some point I'll go into why, but not today). I took the cue of the brightly colored flowers in the bra for my top and something green for the bottom. Sadly, no flower pattern on my legs [note to self: design some flower power tights STAT] but I don't think I'd have chosen the argyle tights if not for this challenge. They work, in some weird way.
It wasn't until I was cropping the sock photo this morning that I realized the Hawaiian shirt used as a background would have played well with my ensemble:

Oh well, next time!

Closeup of the tee graphic:

Yesterday was Mardi Gras, I think this is an appropriate choice!

In April, Severo and I will be having our own rendezvous with beignets. We're booked for two nights in the Garden District (he found an amazingly inexpensive hotel that rates OK on TripAdvisor). Maybe the only stop of my On the Edge road trip that we're meeting up. (NOLA appealed to his gluttonous side).
Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Can't wait to see YOUR cazy socks. If you want to keep it BIG EASY (harhar), simply shoot a photo and stick it on some social media. Anything with a URL can be linked!
Link and tell, people!

An InLinkz Link-up