Super Easy Skirt DIY

Where was I when they issued the "How To" on making a tube skirt out of a tee?
Wool-gathering, no doubt.

Find the too-tight tee/tank/cami:

Cut straight across just under the sleeves/armholes:

Wear!

So easy! Why didn't I think of this sooner!

By the way, I got a new camera.
It has WiFi. I no longer have to email my outfit pix to myself. I can use the WiFi!
Oh the possibilities...

Here's a side-by-side comparison of unedited photos (aside from cropping)
from the old Panasonic Lumix (left) and the new Nikon Coolpix L840 (right):

No more adjusting the Levels in Photoshop every single time!
[Does happy dance].

Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday (oops, she's on vacation!)
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

Making Things Better

PURCHASED/ GIFTED/ PURLOINED/ LINKS/

The past week, I've been thinking about how to make 52 Pick-me-up a less stressful situation for myself. Trying to sketch on Tuesday mornings before work is not easy. As Greetje of No Fear of Fashion so kindly commented, "...remember... YOU made this list of tasks. So YOU can now: delegate, turn down (as in "sorry, won't be able after all to do this") or postpone (plan further in time). All of them options to make your life breathable again."

I've been mulling it over and here's what I've decided going forward:
The prompt for the week will last for a whole week and end at 5:30am Pacific.
The cycle is Wednesday to Wednesday.
The next prompt will go live at Wednesday mornings, as always.
The sketch will appear sometime between Thursday and Sunday.

Not too much adjustment for all that want to play along. A less rigorous sketching schedule for me. Phew!

I've had a fun time matching my scarves this week. I dug into a box of them and found a wonderful gold + brown diamond weave piece that I only vaguely remembered. I wore it last week, even though it was terribly wrinkled.

This one was in the same box, also still wrinkled:

It's hand painted silk chiffon. I can't remember who gave it to me.

Here's what I put together:

The sweater was bugging me -- too tight. I took some scissors to center front:

Aaaaah! So much better!
I wore this on Friday to qi gong class and to a scanning marathon at Otis.

Here is why I scanned at Otis:

home on the left | Otis on the right

Factor in Photoshop crashing every 3rd scan at home and you have no contest. (My scanner is so old that it only works with my feeble laptop).
I scanned 37 drawings, and I hope to slowly and steadily get them colored up.
So a week that started out badly, ended up very nicely. I found a fun new App too!

So excited!!!! Selfie from 2011 "painted" in Waterlogue

How was your week?


Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday and Seeker's Très Chic Style Bits
And YOU still can link up to 52 Pick-me-up here through Wednesday morning.

Go with the [Remote] Flow

LINKS/ CREATED/ PURCHASED/

So I did some twirling experimentation with my new iPhone remote that I helped fund in an Indiegogo campaign
[now they are on Kickstarter if you'd like to get one]

Some of the results:

this is what I actually wore on Saturday

For some reason, it takes a smaller resolution image, which is a drawback for outfit shots.

I've added the link-up for this week's 52 Pick-me-up "Go with the Flow: Long, Loose, and Drapey" below for your convenience.

Meanwhile, I'm floating on over to Patti's Visible Monday. Come with!

My Dream Suitcase

When you read this, I will be far far away from home and on vacation. Woohoo!

As I prepared for my trip, I envisioned my dream suitcase:

• It had those modern roll-in-all-directions wheels.

• It had a telescoping handle that operated as smooth as silk.

• It was hard, and exactly the shape and size of my mom's fifties train case from her honeymoon suitcase set that I took on sleepovers with my cousin. (It was ideal for storing the Barbies).

Source

How about taking said case and frankensteining on the other two parts? THAT is my dream suitcase: small enough to fit under the plane seat and sturdy enough to rest my feet on.

These daydreams transpired because last January, during a harried "Amazing Race" type sprint between gates, I gave myself bursitis in my left shoulder from carrying an overloaded tote and clutching my laptop with a death grip. My right side isn't allowed to carry anything (thanks lymphedema). In March, I experimented with using a small rollaboard for the electronics. It worked OK, but I had my boyfriend along to do the heavy lifting, and the handle does not retract well.

So I daydreamed... and in passing, mentioned my pipe dream to my co-worker. She said "There's a rolling suitcase the skater girls use that they can sit on to put on their skates." (Her son plays hockey). OMG! How genius! A roll-aboard that can be sat on during all that standing around and waiting. THIS I had to track down!

Meet the Züca!

Source

Here is a video of the Züca in action:

I tried to get 18 days of outfits into mine, but was thwarted by the beach towel and, well, a few other things.

Tools of My Blogging Trade

It's another Fashion Beauty Friend Friday and this time Katy of Modly Chic asked us to discuss our tech blogging tools. Here is a glimpse of my horribly messy office:

as you can (maybe) see, it is also my "dressing room"
yes, that is a 2nd monitor behind the iMac...
it's been almost a year that it's been sitting there

1. What are the tools you use to blog?

Let's decode the above picture first for HARDWARE:
1) iMac
2) Epson scanner (bought in 98 and the one piece of hardware that I haven't had to replace)
3) Epson WorkForce 30 inkjet printer
4) iPad -- newest piece of gear!
not seen:
iPhone 3G
Panasonic Lumix

SOFTWARE:
I use Blogger. I just couldn't bring myself to figure out WordPress.
iPhone apps:
instagram
Pose - using for 365 project and I have issues
on iMac:
iPhoto
photoshop
dreamweaver, for when the HTML gets tricky 

ANALOG:
moleskine sketch books
sharpies
prismacolor pencils
markers (I like Pantone markers the best, they don’t stink)
deckle edge ruler
glue sticks 

SOCIAL MEDIA:
The list goes on and on and you can find it with all the links here 

2. What technology item is on your wish-list?
Tech: not a wish, must update to OS7 (Lion). Need iCloud now that I have an iPad
Analog: an excercise ball to sit on and a better working environment!

3. Through the barrage of posts, tweets, pics, poses, messages, etc… how do you avoid becoming a slave to the constant infiltration of information? 
I am very undisciplined when it comes to social media -- I look at my emails, facebook, and twitter first thing in the morning (I've been waking up at 4am!) and sometimes don't surface from it for hours. I also go on them as a "break" when I'm at the money job. Very Bad Behavior. I have tried to not allow myself to go online until I get some art accomplished and have been only moderately successful. Do I need an intervention? Probably... (I also need a visit from the "Hoarders" reality show team! But I know you already thought that when you saw the first photo).

See other responses here. 

fashion challenge: neutrals - pop color saturday

Saturday of the neutrals fashion challenge, hosted by Megan + Keely
I had great plans to do a red outfit with a pop color of hot pink but I will save that for a later day.
Instead, here's what I wore on my expedition to the beach to watch the lunar eclipse:

the coat from monday
tibetan wool hat, got on haight st in SF
pale celadon mystery fiber scarf, got in 90s in providence
grey cotton/spandex lounge pants from work
metal capped-toe clogs
not shown:
blue + green mohair sweater, thrifted in culver city
under that, navy cashmere sweater --
because it was 45 and we are wimps in soCal
grey ragg wool fingerless gloves

the ramp for the lifeguard shack
made a handy support for night-time shooting
used an old danish schoolbag for my camera bag

there's the moon over my shoulder!

while I was standing here,
the Beach Patrol stopped by to see what I was up to
I was afraid he was going to make me get off the beach
(are we allowed on the beach at night? I think so...)
I explained there was an eclipse going on. he wasn't aware of it.

see more moon pix here on my glutton blog

as it got brighter, the moon disappeared in the west
I lingered to watch the sunrise

here's a PhotoBooth shot that sort of shows the colors in the sweater
plus some really attractive hat hair

various cameras, not including iPhone

I dragged out my old manual Pentax SLR, in case I ran out the batteries in my digital devices. Of course the battery was totally dead in that too, so I winged it on slow settings. The camera is horribly heavy, but oh, the sensations of winding the film, clicking, hearing the shutter noise... it brought back memories. I shot two rolls of film. Hope I can find a lab to process them.

Thus concludes the week of the Neutrals Challenge. It was a blast! Thank you Megan + Keely!