Thursday, November 29, 2012

Twirl

I was just so excited for this outfit.
I haven't worn this shirt in ages, and the dress and necklace are both new! Don't you guys love putting on something brand new and twirling around in it? I did my share of twirling, as you soon shall see.
So check this sucker out! It's a vintage toggle necklace, and I've been wanting one for ages. Oh Goodwill, I could sing your praises. My friend sent me a video that actually does! You can watch it if you're into silly raps, thrift stores, and looking fly.
 So in other news. I am practically done with my school work for the semester! My books are finished and sent off for printing, my presentation is done, and I've just got two measly finals to study for before saying SAYONARA COLLEGE. For a month, anyway.
Check out this gif, though. I have never made such a great gif.
dress: Ruche
shoes: Kohls
shirt, belt, necklace, jacket: Goodwill

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Buttons Anyone?

What's up, homies?!
I made a button for my blog, and you can find it over on the right sidebar! It's 200x200 pixels. If you want to swap with me, give me a link to yours and I'll put it up! Until I get like 10 or 15 or so, I won't say no! But you gotta put mine up on your blog too, of course.
I also want to throw it out there that I'm open for blog button commissions, if you want one like this done, or one like my profile picture. This one is watercolor and the other one is digital. I'll make you one for $15, or for a month's ad-space on your site, if you have over 200 followers.
I also just discovered that the key to making portraits accurate likenesses is to close the eyes. Don't say I never gave you nothin', that is basically the secret to being an artist.
HOLLA.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Friday, November 23, 2012

Thanksgiving

I'd love to hear about everyone's Thanksgivings.
The tradition in my family is to see a movie on Thanksgiving day. This year's was Life of Pi, which was okay. It stressed me out, but was really pretty. After that we make some kind of dinner that involves fish (since my sister and I are not-super-strict vegetarians) and potatoes (because who doesn't love potatoes). Then we eat that at the dining room table and go to bed.
We've never gone shopping for Black Friday, because we usually reserve that day to go and visit our extended family in North Carolina. There we have a pot-luck type thing and the desserts are usually the best part. My whole family sits around and complains about menopause or "youngins these days" because most of my family is post 50 year old women and/or rednecks. But really, I enjoy it.
I thought these photos just screamed "fall". Or "FALL!!" Since they're screaming. Am I right?
 This year I woke up early to try and shop at Goodwill, but there was no one there and not a sale in sight! I mean, I don't know how much more of a sale Goodwill can have, since they have a dollar rack every weekend, but still. I was disappointed.
 I also bought a couple things at Ruche's and Modcloth's sales. Can't wait for them to get here!
 romper, shirt,sweater: Goodwill
shoes: thrift store
scarf, necklace: handmade by me






Thursday, November 22, 2012

The Significance of Boots

 I may have gone a little overboard on the prints in this outfit... particularly if you saw me on campus carrying my floral print bag. But I loved it!
These boots were one of the first real decisions I made as far as my wardrobe goes. I saw them in a delias catalogue and put them straight on my Christmas wishlist. In highschool I wore ripped jeans, converses, and graphic tees pretty consistenty (ain't nothing wrong with that, it's just quite a departure from my current style). I literally dreamed about these suckers. I actually wore them the second time I met my boyfriend.
The second time I met Travis ought to have been the first, since the first time he had a really awful haircut. That might sound shallow, but you just didn't see this haircut.
rooster shirt and white blouse: goodwill
tights: target
skirt, coat: wet seal
boots: delias

Happy Thanksgiving, my fellow Americans!






Monday, November 19, 2012

The Wild Swans

I am really excited to show you guys a project I've been working on all semester! For my fairytales class, I chose a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale to illustrate. I ended up rewriting it, too, to some extent, because I wanted slightly more modern ideals. I did it in watercolor and gouache, and these spreads are 11x17, making the book 8.5x11. It's 32 pages in all! I'm so proud of how it turned out, and if you're interested, I'll try and figure out how to post something you can read through!





Friday, November 16, 2012

Frizzy

 I am at that point in the semester where everything is due and I'm getting stress acne that I could connect-the-dots with to form a picture of a dragon or something. So I haven't really been getting out to photograph my clothes that much this week, and the cold also has a whole lot to do with it.
I did manage to get these incredibly un-photogenic pictures across campus while nervously glancing around to make sure passers by didn't see me standing in front of my tripod like a dope. You guys may not notice the un-photogenicness of these (I never notice other people's complaints), but I got pretty sweaty hiking around in my coat and my bangs just weren't behaving. And maybe I just don't like the way my face looks without my good old red lipstick. That might be a problem.
But for real, I'd get them permanently reddened if that were a thing.
 Frizzy bangs aside, I was pretty proud of this outfit. I mean, anything with a big old lace collar is probably A-OK in my book.
I hope my fellow students out there are making it through the final lap of the semester without too much difficulty!
 dress, vest: Goodwill
shoes: Blowfish
coat: Dillards
necklace: vintage, from my Oma





Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Pokemaniac

This is a dress I made.
And in my hand are the broken remains of my bracelet that I accidentally snapped while taking off my cardigan. Don't worry, I fixed it! When I pulled over on the side of the road to take these pictures it was a little colder and winder than I would have liked.
I did originally have a story for you guys about getting yelled at by a cop, but I accidentally deleted the post and now I don't want to retell it. Don't worry, it wasn't that great. Instead, I'll talk about one of the things that defined my childhood. I picked this topic at random just now.

Pokemon! Everyone loved Pokemon at my daycare when I was a kid. Me more than most. I have at least one game from every series, and my card collection is only missing Zapdos and Venasaur (from the original 151). I think I deserve bragging rights. Though the games don't change much in ways other than newer graphics or sillier sounding Pokemon, they'll always hold a special place in my heart, and I'll always buy the new ones. Sometimes there's nothing I want more than to go off on an adventure and just catch 'em all.
And can I just say how excited I am that over 50 people think this blog is worth reading? Seriously.

dress-handmade by me
hat-Goodwill
shoes (not that you can see them)-Rack Room
necklace-Modcloth



Saturday, November 10, 2012

My Days in the Theater!

Here's an outfit I wore last week.
And now, today's bit-o-Rachel's life is....
 My days in the theatre! (pronounced theatuh)
That's right! I used to fancy myself an actress! I was in about a dozen plays in high school, nearly all of them being musicals. My first big roles started coming when I was in 11th grade, and there were really only three of them. First, I was the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz. I even got to sing a couple songs from Wicked until we got in trouble for not buying the rights for it. Oops.
 Next, I was in my high school's production of Little Women, in the lead role of Jo. It was a freaking dream come true, and I took it so seriously. No one else did, and I got pretty uptight. Like "WHY DON'T YOU KNOW YOUR LINES DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT THIS?!?!?!" uptight. I don't think my cast-mates liked me too much.
The last play I ever did was Aida, right before I left for college. I played the title role, who is one of two star-crossed lovers in Ancient Egypt. She and her boo die at the end. This picture is one of my favorites, because even though we're in a "tomb", I'm a sucker for twinkling lights.

So there you go! I used to be a theater kid! Bet you didn't know that! Unless you knew me in highschool. I was actually pretty good at it (in a big-fish-small-pond sort of way). I miss it sometimes. I loved being on stage and singing because I'm pretty stuck on myself haha. But now the only singing I do is in my car!

Here's a video of me singing and dancing in all of it's home-movies glory. I'm the one in the middle with the pants and the fake hair. I don't know if it will let you watch it, since it's from someone else's facebook.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Speed Limit

My neck is really long and skinny. Now don't think I'm complaining! I really don't mind, it's just an observation. 
 I thought it would be a nice thing to tell you guys actual stories from my life in these posts. "Haven't you been doing that already, Rachel?" Well, no. I've been telling you about fashion and sewing and little lifestyle snippets, but I love love love reading about people's real lives. Thoughts, emotions, quirks, you know. And I love talking about myself! So here we go.

I used to drive really fast. Like on the interstate my average was 90mph. I hit 110 once when I was in a hurry. On backroads I usually stuck to 55mph. And would you believe it, I never got in a wreck! Or even got pulled over! Suffice it to say I was incredibly lucky. Then 2 years ago, my sister crashed the car. My car to be precise. She was fine except for some bumps and bruises (and being incredibly shaken up),  but the car was TOTALLED. The lady she rear-ended was really crotchety for someone who's tank of a cadillac had a dented fender, and was still shouting when I arrived at the scene 30 minutes later.

So that is the story of why I obey the speed limit.
This dress was from Goodwill. A posher-than-average Goodwill near my school. By that I mean there was no dollar rack and the clothes were organized by color on round racks. I swapped the buttons on it for daisy ones I found at Walmart!
 dress, shirt: Goodwill
shoes: Rack Room (I love them!)
necklace: Modcloth