#MeMadeMay Week 2: Tunic Rehabs

These items are NOT from Repair/Repurpose Mountain.
Instead, it was adding a tiny bit of hand sewing that made me love them all over again.

First, the green stripe rayon tunic.
It kept sliding off my shoulders and driving me batty.
The problem? Neck hole too wide!
A simple 2" in at the shoulder on both sides and my sanity was restored.

"This tunic matches my eyes. Yes, I'll pose with it."

Next, the Japanese kimono textile:

I'm "backstage" at the Palm Desert Civic Center Amphitheater.
Severo had a gig with The Pettybreakers. It was 106ºF.
I found this a good print for disguising spilled guacamole.
Write up on the Glutton blog soon.

And last, the BOOM! tunic, which I tolerated at work in order to be extra festive for the Otis Senior Exhibition after work.

The Chico's ombre dot scarf, acquired last year, pairs perfectly with the tunic.

At Otis. Couldn't figure out the student who created this mirror piece.

Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday

Catherines #iwillwearwhatilike

Oh yeah, DOTS!

#MeMadeMay '18 Week 1 -- Buttons

I blame Pao of Project Minima. She tempted me into this.
Last week, I signed an intention statement over on So, Zo's page:

[Now that I reread my statement, I might not be exactly following it this week. Oops].

This week I tackled the pile of shirts that need buttons replaced.

First, this shirt of Severo's:

Os are missing buttons, Xs are extras that I can move.

I really like the print on this. Even though it's made up of squares, it looks like dots.

Fixed! It only took ten minutes! And how long was it sitting in a To-Do pile?

I won't say!

Totally pretend outfit. Perhaps will wear tomorrow!

Next up, the African explosion shirt:

I gave this to Severo, then took it back.
I'm holding it closed where the button is missing because I haven't fixed it yet.

Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday

and Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike

We're still on the Dots Month Linkup. Let's see those dots, new, old, whatever!

My skirt has dots, don't give me any grief.

May Lost and Found

There was that time I said I'd start doing a Lost and Found series.
[Words of warning: if I say "stay tuned" I think that files the idea into a fog of forgetfulness]. 

I wrote:
"Every time I'm looking for one thing, I find something else, something I've often COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN ABOUT! Usually it's a happy discovery. So, my plan is to document: 

1) what I was (or still am) looking for

2) what I found

Get ready for many "interesting" discoveries!"

There was also a time when I did regular link-up posts. The link-ups were always themed because I thought it would be more interesting. I suppose I also like bossing people around (I AM the eldest of four, so it's ingrained). When Rena and I met up at the Poshmark Live Party last month, she said how much she enjoyed my link-ups.

I FOUND this post recently, over on my Pattern blog (can't remember what I was searching for):

It has a really fun group of link-ups, and I'm resurrecting it!

As you can see in the screenshot above, it's a link-up from FOUR years ago. I'm including the original links. And the links post randomly! Fun, yes?

Get your dots on and join in!

[Enid] F is for Fiorucci Dot Scarf

ENID/

Transcription:

4.7 "F" 
This one makes me wish it was a magic portal to 1977 and I'm dancing the night away at Studio 54.

Happy St TARDIS Tuesday

PURCHASED/ PURLOINED/ GIFTED/ 

I saw this StyleMint blue/black/green dress on someone in Go Chic or Go Home, my online Digital Closet community and HAD to have it. It's rather cheap cotton blend knit that is now starting to pill and I'll keep wearing it until I kill it.
You've seen it before, but never combined like this!

Jan, of Fort Smith Stylista, kindly gave me the Duro Olowu shirt because I raved about hers, you can see how I sketched her in it here. The shirt had been sadly languishing in my closet because the right sleeve was too tight due to my lymphedema. Solution? I cut off the sleeves!

Severo gave me the socks, from his February Sock Haul in Brooklyn. These came in a 3-pack that sold for $1.99. He now checks my feet every morning to see what socks I'm wearing.
He has a gig in Boston this weekend. Will he bring home some new socks for my collection?

Linking up with Maricel's TARDIS Tuesday.

52 Pick-me-up: Dots

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life." --Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011, Stanford commencement address (12 June 2005) [source]

PURCHASED/ GIFTED/ 

It's all about the Dots this week. NO BRAINER! 

I'm taking a look at my dotted socks. I have A LOT of dotted socks. Some might say too many.
No, you can never have too many dotted socks.

All the dot socks. Yes, leopard counts as dots. 

Most are Happy Socks brand. 

Severo gave me the MTA Subway socks and black ground multi dots above them. 

Full confession: the above sock organization became reality for this post.

One hour ago, my sock drawers looked like this:

The novelty ankle socks drawer had really hit critical mass!

I had seen this pin, for organizing shoes using an old wine carton.

I thought, I have tons of empty tea tins from my daily cup of Twinings Earl Grey that I can't bear to recycle.
They are a perfect size for storing socks. My shelves have become a horrid mess [again]:

(No, don't even ask about that Barbie Doll.)

The bottom shelf is now replaced with a grid of tins filled with socks! Yay!
Next I'll find some empty wine cartons to get my shoes in order.
And work on that middle shelf!  √ DONE!

Here is one of my favorite dotted pairs on their swan song:

Sad to say, they had to be retired. Soon they will get repurposed as catnip receptacles.

Did you connect the dots this week? Link and tell!

When Amaryllis Met TARDIS

PURCHASED/ GIFTED/ 

What happened when I was thinking of the red and white Amaryllis
while also thinking about Maricel's My Closet Catalogue TARDIS Tuesday?
This:

I fear the spandex is dying in the skirt. Tragic.
It's tubular bubble knit nylon/spandex yardage that I bought in the 80s.
I had located a wholesaler for it then, not sure if it's still being manufactured.

Amaryllis inspiration:

[Source: Google Image search for Amaryllis]

You have lots of time to add your 52 Pick-me-up link!

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

52 Pick-me-up: Go Dotty

PURCHASED/ GIFTED/ LINKS/

Dots are this week's theme.

If you are regular, you are well aware of the many dotted socks that I own.
You've also seen this skirt a lot.

Glamor shot, so that I can join Style Crone's Hat Attack:

 I'm still swamped with work, so I'll keep this short. Got dots?

52 Pick-me-up: Short Over Long

PURCHASED/ PURLOINED/ LINKS/

Proportion play! Find something short (maybe even TOO short) and wear something long under it.
Go grunge and wear long sleeves under a tee.
Or go crazy, like I did:

I didn't start out dressing to match my scarves (like last week), but I found the perfect matchy scarves.
Short scarf over long scarf pure accident!

This was one of those outfits that started out with totally different items over the striped top and red pants.
I ended up with the above for lack of time.

I felt like this (which I've posted before, but it bears repeating):

Sporting the drop-crotch trend at such an early age!

My red and white scarf has a special past:

Dolls of the World Kenya Barbie, 1994
photo source: Barbie Collector

I designed it for Kenya Barbie and purloined some sample fabric!
This is one of my early digital print designs, that I worked up in U4ia (expensive proprietary software which Lectra now calls something else). The printing on the polyester base cloth shows equally on both sides, and it works well for both Barbie's cape and my scarf.

[Apologies for the wretched photo. Will replace with a better one tomorrow.]

Here's another short over long idea:

At my art reception, 3/31/2013

I now have the distinction of being "that crazy girl on Facebook", as described by one of Severo's old pals.
Hahahaha!

Special shout-out to Megan Mae and Keely, 
who first gave me the idea for this prompt, from their Fashion Challenge series.

Link up, my friends:

CMYK Day

PURCHASED/ PURLOINED/ GIFTED/ LINKS/

Yes, I really did wear this to work yesterday.

It started with some bright blue lounge pants with pink stitching (courtesy of the work sample box, of course. I wouldn't PAY for something like that!). Then the funky socks came out and the pants stayed home. And MAYBE the blue-pants-under-pink-dot-skirt combo was too over the top, even for me.

Now that I see it in a photo? Not as crazy as I thought!

As I was putting this post together, I realized I missed a yellow scarf opportunity.
So this morning I put almost everything on again with the scarf added.

CMYK head-to-toe!

Selfie closeup for Style Crone's January Hat Attack

Field notes:
Only one workplace comment on this look, from Robert, who had returned to interview (after a seven year absence):
"You look the same." "Yes, I still dress like a clown."

Pink Power!

PURCHASED/ PURLOINED/ GIFTED

There's a lot of pink going around this month.
Yep, it's breast cancer awareness time. Please go get that mammogram! Don't let fear allow you to procrastinate like it did me. I had Stage IIIc. And I'm still here to hypnotize you with clashing colors and patterns.  
So there, cancer. I won, you lost!

Here I am, gloating over my victory.

Still keeping with this week's 52 Pick-me-up theme of Accessories First,
I coordinated my outfit with some Nigerian plastic disc necklaces:

If you follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or Flickr, you may have noticed these target-like images.
They're over there to the right on my sidebar in the Instagram feed as well.
The shot of my lap (2nd photo), filtered through the Tiny Planet App, became the above. I find it a fun way to present my outfits on social media. I usually make them during my lunch breaks at work, which is why they mostly appear on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. But this week I made one at my desk with some feline printouts. A new way to waste time at work! WooHoo!

I've joined Patti's Visible Monday.
Also playing with Jane's Shiny T Tuesday.

Meanwhile, you still have plenty of some time to add your link here if you've donned some accessories first.

Blame the Canadians

LINKS/ PURCHASED/ GIFTED/

Oh Canada Day!
I wasn't planning to post today, but then I saw all you Canadians in your red + white finery and I JUST HAD TO join in. Because a red and white outfit is the perfect thing on the cusp between last week's 52 Pick-me-up Complementary Colors and the Red/white/blue/black theme coming up on Wednesday.

So here ya go, eh?

See how I worked in the green? Sly SpyGirl, sly.

Sunday = Fun Day: Virtual Astro Targets

Today's "outfit" comes from a completely random Facebook Page suggestion!
(Yes, sometimes those annoying FB "improvements" will yield something worthwhile).

Fasten your seat belts, this one has lots of twists and turns!

After "Liking" a RI travel consultant
(because a friend had shared her photo gallery of vintage Naragansett hotel post cards)
some suggestions for other Pages came up (new thing that I never saw until this morning).
I hovered over the target avatar and it displayed:

Arts/Humanities?
HAD to click on it! It was a TARGET! (Colorscope FB Page)
Not only a target, but an ASTROLOGICAL TARGET!!!

link for colorscope

Here is mine: Hard to look at, right?

What can I say, they are my favorite colors... I HAD to create a repeat with them! And mock it up on myself!

I located this photo from a shopping expedition in Venice CA from 2011 -- look how it matches "my" target colors so perfectly!

I first did some Photoshop [PSD] retouching and got rid of the red + blue motifs
I'm not showing you that because it was fast + sloppy

Then I went over to Illustrator [AI] and created my repeat:

are you hypnotized yet?
It's no genius repeat, but it'll do

Then I brought my photo into AI to create the areas to apply the print
(I used the pen tool -- I did it in AI because it's easier to scale + rotate repeats in AI vs PSD)

Here's what I came up with:

The green happened from it being 3 layers of print with a transparency effect applied.
I was OK with it

I then exported just the print layers over to PSD, to soften up the print a bit.
This is my final opus:

ADORE IT!!!
The color didn't shift in the same way, OK by me

Don't be surprised if you find me actually wearing this come summer!

I'm linking up with Patti's Visible Monday -- I think I'll be stopping traffic with this one!

Meanwhile, what's your Astro Target?
Please share on my SpyGirl FB Page!
or
leave a link below in the comments

Have a celestial day!

Hello there!

Long time no see!

These Prints Are So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades #OOTD

So much for my lugubrious neutrals. I succumbed to the meme:

In my own fashion, that is. Click on the above box to see more color blocking.