Paper Dolls

I mentioned previously that I'm working on a paper doll set for my digital illustration class. I decided to restrict myself to using only black + one spot color throughout and I really like the result. I wasn't at all meaning to make her look like me, but basically everyone I've shown these to has asked if they were a self portrait. What do you think? :) I'm actually half tempted to use these in my header and change my layout a bit.

I'll be posting up my progress with this project. It makes me quite happy, since it's graphic design + fashion. Sort of.



ink on printer paper, scanned and digitally colored.

ClICK HERE to see the set larger.

Vintage Children Book Illustrations

Lately, I've been rather obsessed with the illustrations from vintage children's books. Especially the ones that are two color print jobs--with slightly sketchy lines and bizarre, silly content. I stumbled across a pool of them on flickr and pulled ones that I liked/were amusing to me.

Summersong

I have been so busy with schoolwork and work this summer, it's ridiculous. I always imagine summer as being this sunshiney carefree time, but I never actually let myself relax–I always sign up for classes and load on the work hours. It's great having Robert home, finally, but it's disappointing that most of the time we spend together is consumed by me being on the computer fretting over minuscule things like the tracking and leading of type.

It feels like I haven't done outfit photos in forever!




Robert and I went to our old high school the other day though. We bought some pretty awesome Greek food and then sat in the bleachers. In the band section of course! :) Because we used to be in marching band together.




These pictures make me smile though. They are so soft and dreamy. And I hardly did anything to them in Photoshop. Robert has been experimenting with some different lenses–all of which are older and fully manual. It's crazy when you see photos nowadays that aren't perfectly crisp and clean. I like these a lot.




Such big things are happening this summer. My parents are moving, I'm finally getting into the groove of graphic design, Robert is home and I'm leaving for Hawaii in five days; I'm escorting my grandpa back. He's been living here in Portland for a few years now, but now that my grandma is retired, he is moving back. So I'll have some pretty pictures to show when I get back :)

Julia Morstad

It's sort of funny but for my digital illustration class, we're being required to illustrate our wardrobes for a week–which is something I've been wanting to experiment with anyway. Looking for illustration inspiration for this project, I came across the illustrations of Julia Morstad.

I love the simple clean line work + simple, deliberate color palettes.

topographers

ink on paper, then digitally colored.

This was just a silly little thing I did fairly quickly. I've been experimenting with scanning hand done illustrations then digitally coloring the fills and line work. This one was really simple and consisted of just coloring the lines.

I quit + 4th of July outfit

Okay. I've known this for about a week now, but now I definitely have to make the confession: I'm quitting the 30 for 30. I feel like an idiot, since a blog is such a public thing. I mentioned in a post about a month ago that I wanted to slowly shift the content on here to being a little less fashion and a little more design. It feels impossible to do that with a 30 for 30 going on. Plus, it's hard for me to take pictures every single day.

So anyhow, that's why I haven't been posting outfits. And now you know. This was my Fourth of July outfit. I don't own many red things at all, so I went with an all blue palette. I love this sweater–the color, the shape, the patterns.




So anyhow, I have a lot of ideas for my blog. I just need to stick by them and not get sucked into constantly posting up outfits. I might lose followers, but that's all right; I feel like there's a lot more that I could and should be blogging about. I want my blog to reflect more of me than just my outfits.

That being said, I'll still be posting them. Heather over at 29 Skirts actually has a feature I want to be joining in on, called Thrifted Thursdays, which sound like exactly what they are–outfit posts of outfits made entirely of thrifted clothing :)




I also want to get back into my Virtu and Inspiration posts as well as start posting up illustrations and my projects. We'll see how this all goes. I feel like I'm definitely still trying to grow into my blog. Happy Friday!





sweater: UO on sale
shorts: thrifted
purse: thrifted
shoes: Steve Madden
necklace & headband: F21

Guest Post at Just Take a Bow

Hello lovelies. I'm just dropping in to say that I'm guest posting over at Just Take a Bow today. Sarah is one of my best real-life friends and I miss her. Lucky for me (not for her), she is coming back soon.

Santa Barbara Marina

Hello ! I've gotten a little behind in posting again because of work and school and robert and guest posts to work on, so I'm dipping into photos from my recent trip down to California. These were all taken in Santa Barbara along with this post.

They were all taken by either me, or Robert.

9 of 30: polka dots are a solid

I loved this outfit. It embodies a lot of things that I love: polka dots, florals, subtle color combinations, my pretty wedges and the fact that I wore it out on a date. AND took the pictures at one of my favorite places (Director's Park in Portland. A more recent public park project). I've slowly started to get into pattern mixing--though this can hardly be considered bold, since I think polka dots (and stripes) are baasically solids--at least when it comes to pattern mixing.

I had class in the day, then Robert and I went to see Tree of Life, which if you didn't know, won the Cannes film festival this year. I'm in no way a movie connoisseur--I'm the opposite, actually. I'm horrible at watching movies because of my short attention span. I'd much rather read, where you decide the pace and can sort of make things happen yourself (how cheesy does that sound?).



Robert explained it to me as having been developed as more of an experiential piece, rather than something with a clear plot and clear development. That makes sense but I could feel myself getting squirmy in my seat when nothing was seemingly happening. That being said, I would suggest watching this movie for the photography alone. The imagery is stunning; it's full of suburban 50's America, sunflares, fields, the cosmos--everything that us bloggers love. ha. ha.




Anyways, I was in absolute love with this outfit. Every single thing I wore was one of my favorites and I loved how they came together. The color palette was perfect for me with just the right amount of contrast in the patterns and colors.





polka dot dress: H&M
skirt: thrifted
cardigan: ? old, from highschool
purse: vintage Coach, hand-me-down from Robert's mom
tights: J. Crew
wedges: BC