inspriation + 3 minute project

Today I got out a few of my favorite magazines and was flipping through them for inspiration. I've said it before, but I love come home magazine, out of all my Japanese books, this magazine has everything. I adore the styling in these photos. I think this style is exactly the mood I long to have in my life, casual, and not trying too hard. I have a huge fear of looking like I tried to style my home and my clothes too much. I just want it to be. Does that make/not make sense?

While I was flipping though them I realized that all the little touches in these homes I love are so simple and small. So I had a bit of inspiration and decided I need to try and do a mini project everyday. Because all those little things just don't happen at once.

Remember my mason jar lights? I was looking at them today and realized I really don't like how shiny the lids look. So I grabbed a few colors of my washi tape, and wrapped them, not even very neatly, to make them matte. 3 minutes later and my first mini project is done!

my japanese fix

Of course on this trip I had to make a stop at kinokuniya. The store here is pretty tiny compared to New York's, but that doesn't mean that I can't find something to buy! I ended up getting three books, I seem to be more attracted to home and style books/magazines lately. Come Home magazine is my favorite, but they don't carry it here.

I did end up getting favorite style for four seasons, ISBN 978-4-7966-6443-1, which is a lovely style book which is all about one person's style using staple pieces and then changing the different looks. It also has places she likes, and little project on revamping pieces to make them new. Really beautiful book. I also got 2 dear, sweet home books ISBN 978-4-391-13026-3 and 978-4-391-62192-1 which seem to be special issues of come home magazine, I think? They are split into 4 sections, interior, gift, wardrobe, and travel. Lots of projects and beautiful inspiration photography. I tend to get ideas more from then styling and lifestyle than books on a specific craft technique, although I have lots of those. I'm happy to be adding to my collection!

We also had a mission yesterday of finding  some great polishes. I was looking for an opaque peachy pink, and maybe a dark color. We searched a couple stores, and we found one lone bottle of essie haute as hello which is pretty perfect (on my fingers above), I was hoping to find tart deco by essie also, but they were out. It's a little hard to use because it is a little matte, but I think it will look better after my third coat. I also picked up a really nice purple, OPI's we'll always have paris. I love a deep purple.

I'm off to Boise today, and I'm hoping to give you a peek into my hometown. I think most people have a wrong idea about Idaho, at least Boise.

refocus

from come home vol. 13 (isbn 978-4-391-62687-2), and stylish dress book #1(isbn 978-4-579-11185-5)

Now that I am focusing on making rather than baking, I have been thinking of one of my summer goals, which is to attempt to sew a dress from a japanese sewing book. I have only sewn one dress, and so I am not very confident in this area, but I plan to learn the way I do best, try and fail and try again, with hopefully no tears involved. I am going to just use some kona cotton muslin, and if it turns out, I'll dye it, and if not then I can rip it up and not feel bad about it.

I just love the japanese style that I see in my books and magazines. I love the boxy/slim combo of jeans and an oversize sweater, tights, boots and dresses, they even make socks and sandals look chic.

I am achieving baby steps as I sit here in my boxy oversize mini gingham shirt from uniqlo. But I am also sitting in an 80 degree house, so the layers and sweaters will have to wait, but come fall I'll be ready.

I'm a messy mess

Last night I cleaned my studio. It was overrun with piles. I am a pile maker. (I'm somewhat notorious in my family for the messes I make.) My fabric has exploded and is a complete mess. I put up all my tapes on my board, I used a bunch of vintage corsage pins I got recently, but most of them were broken so I had to use my quilting pins for the rest. I have 24 washi tapes now, I didn't realize I had so many!

I need to simplify my studio, I have so much stuff it's looking more cluttered than cute. I need a way to store my fabrics and yarn on open shelves with some organization. Right now I have my fabrics folded and stacked, but I'm sure you know how long that stays neat. I'm thinking about using containers maybe like this, but I'm not really sure. Do you have any good ways to store fabric? My skeins of yarn are all piled on each other, which is sad because I have some really pretty yarn. This might take all summer.

too much tape! I have a problem.

Hi everyone! Want check out what I got this weekend at kinokuniya? Pop over to abby's blog to see my post.

guest blogging...

Hi! I'm super excited to let you know that I will be guest blogging over at Abby's blog This is Not My Work. I met Abby at second storie this past fall, and we became fast friends. She's an amazing photographer and blogger, and I'm so happy that she asked me to be a part of it. I'll be blogging there every Wednesday, sharing tutorials or crafty inspirations. I would love it if you could join me over there and check it out!

And for those over here for the first time from Abby's blog, welcome! Thanks for stopping by, I would love for you to get to know me and say hi. :)

my inspiration

Today is my day for the blog it forward post by sfgirlbybay. Have you been checking it out? It has tons of amazing new blogs to discover. Basically it is 300 bloggers who all are writing a post about what inspires them, and each blog is linked to someone who did it yesterday, and I pass it on to someone who will post tomorrow.

One of my biggest inspirations are japanese craft books. I remember first reading about them a few years ago, and soon after I was on a trip to NYC and went to Kinokuniya for the first time. I was there with my classmates, and I think they thought I was slightly crazy and I had to beg them for a little more time while I browsed through the enormous selection of absolutely amazing awesomeness. I knew that my professor thought I was nuts when he was looking at what we had all bought when we were out and I was giddy over my huge bag of fabric and yarn from purl and japanese craft books. He was disappointed.

my first ones I ever bought.

Come Home magazine is my favorite.

I can't stop!

The photography, the projects, the styling, everything in these books are perfect, just that I can't read them!

That year in school I was working on my BFA in graphic design, and I was starting to struggle. Redesigning packaging over and over, I love design but I was feeling completely uncreative and burned out. I would escape to my blogland, and thinking about all the things I would make with my hands rather than a computer screen. I applied to my dream internship, totally never going to happen, and just daydreamed.

A few months later, I went to live in NYC for the summer for my internship at Martha Stewart Living in the Editorial Craft department. That I could go on about forever, but I learned so much, living in the city, going everyday to be around artists and people who I respected and admired so much and who loved the same thing I did. I didn't feel so guilty anymore for falling out of love with graphic design 24/7. The sounds of the city, going to a million stores, buying supplies for shoots, making candles, gold leafing wood, spray painting flowers, glittering everything, late nights, photo shoots, martha, teal everywhere. I think I pinched myself everyday I was there. I never ever took it for granted. I wished it never ended.


It didn't help that our offices were in midtown, at Bryant Park, and Kinokuniya was right across the street. There were so many days when I would go there after work, and just read and read for a couple hours and then hop on the subway home. I think living in New York City reinvents you. I felt empowered, independent, and more inspired than I ever have in my whole life. I sacrificed a lot to go there, I lived apart from my husband for 4 months, but it was the greatest experience of my life.


That is one piece of what inspires me, I feel like I could go on forever. Right now I am inspired so much by the community of blogging. I had made some amazing friends (and hope to make many more), and it's nice to feel that I have people I can talk to, we support each other. It means a lot to me since moving to a new town. All my friends and family are hundreds and thousands of miles away.

Thanks for checking by, if you made it to the end of this long post. I am happy to have had Scoutie Girl on the chain before me, and I'm sending on over See Meg Shop for tomorrow! Hope you keep following along!

ps giveaway ends tomorrow!! Don't forget to enter!

felt manila envelope? perfect.

I am trying to finish some last minute christmas gifts, and I turned to my library for inpiration. I hadn't looked at this book in a while, it has amazing projects all made out of felt. My love for Japanese craft books is never ending. This book gave me some great ideas, just what I needed for some motivation for being in a making frenzy!

Title: not sure
ISBN: 978-4-579-11115-2