The Laurie Coat

Lesley came over for a jam making session and we got to talking about how we're going to use the "loot" we snagged at a yarn sale in Newberry Park on Saturday. She was talking plans for denim yardage and I mentioned a coat I'd seen and specced at an exhibition in Portland in June 2011.

click on the link above to see a detail

I sewed a version from sari fabric in 2012(?) and I don't think I ever posted it.

Here it is today:

I happened to have on this new abstracted leopard sweater and knew it'd look good with the coat.
Then, since the pattern on the sweater reminded me of the 80's Norma Kamali tights that I still have, I added those. (They're 100% nylon and no longer tolerable for daily wear).
And to finish it off, I dragged out my 80's Norma Kamali "elf" booties. (I no longer wear these either).
Voila! An olive casserole!

Linking with
Patti's Visible Monday
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike

Let's Haiku. Linkup.

One of my favorite blog reads, Adulting – Second Half, wrote a post with her first stabs at poetry. I remember Shelbee on the Edge also was posting poetry recently. Have you had the urge to get poetic? Or did you write poetry as a teen?

from my high school art and literary magazine, 1972
Heavy influenced by Kenneth Patchen

I sure did. It seemed the best way to organize all those tumultuous teen thoughts.
And perhaps some of you are experiencing peri/menopausal emotions that might be nicely tamed in a poem. (Thanks, hormones). (I know a poem won't subdue the beast within, but it may help channel the energy in a creative way).

My response comment to Kelly got me thinking.

I like writing haiku at times. I was going to do a whole series “Haiku to My Closet” about favorite garments, which hasn’t progressed very far, but never too late to take it up again!
A recent poetry moment was in the final session of a year-long mending workshop: we were asked to sum up our activities as a short haiku-like poem since our prior meeting. It was a fun challenge!
So I introduce myself as a haiku: 

Anne M Bray, artist.
Serene road trip art, wild style,
Body as canvas.

Let's have a Haiku Linkup!
It could be a haiku to something in your closet:

original post

Or introduce yourself, as I did above.
Anything goes, as long as your link has a poem in Haiku format:
A Haiku is a Japanese short poem made up of 3 phrases with 17 syllables in it divided into 5, 7, 5.

This Link Party will stay open until 01/01/2020

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Linking this up with
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness
Catherine's #ShareAllLinkup

The Highs and Lows of Online Secondhand Shopping

On Saturday, I experienced the distaff sides of online shopping.
Two packages, two distinct experiences.

The first that I tore into came from Suzanne Carillo's VintageBySuzanne Etsy Shop.

Look! It's a present!

Suzanne blogged about this item and as soon as I read her words "it’s just not my vibe" I pounced.

Cool buttons!

It is my vibe it most certainly!

Package number two: Fluevog Supervog Safety Oxfords, purchased on eBay.
A "smile" greeted me as I opened the envelope
(Yes, I paid $14 postage for shoes wedged into a tyvek shipping envelope without any padding).
This was not a happy smile to see:

[Thinks to self: On noooooo. Expensive cobbler repair. Let's see how they fit].
[On dear. They were very large looking].
Advertised as Size 7.5, they were MEN's 7.5.
10" footbed - 1.5" too long! And both shoes have the sole splitting issue in front.
Damn. They are really pretty (albeit heavy) shoes.

Comparing sizes: a shoe that fits, a shoe that doesn't.

I went back online to check the photos of the listing to see if I'd overlooked the flaws, and to see how the sizing had been described, but the detail photos and additional description [which I didn't know about before. EBay newbie, me] were gone.
I asked for a refund and was issued a purchase price refund, without the shipping. So perhaps this is how the seller makes his money? I don't know. I messaged the seller to see if he wanted them returned, crickets.
I guess their destiny is my Poshmark shop. Sigh.

Have you experienced any online shopping highs or lows? Do tell!

Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday.
Catherine's #shareAllLinkup