Really Inspired by Pin Ups!

I have always loved the look of pin up girls... not the super sexy, borderline vulgar ones but the beautiful, curvaceous and almost "empowered before their time" ones. Recently, I have just really kicked my interest up a notch and have collected some of my favorite pin up girls and sketched ideas for dresses and accessories based on these ultra cool ladies. I have found inspiration in starlets of years past and even women of today who have channeled their inner pinup. I am thinking I want to channel my inner pin up!

Eva Gardner.Jayne Mansfield.Sophia Loren.Marylin Monroe

Katy Perry. Zooey Deschanel. Dita Von Teese. Christina Aguilera

I cannot help but find glamor and an escape from every day fashion and style in the pinups of the past. I'm wondering what it will take to infuse it with my every day and also my crafting/ sewing. I think it will take awhile to take shape and become robust but I am really looking forward to the journey!

Some of my favorite pin up art is included. All of these fall into the categories which to me really exude the awesomeness of a pinup girl... beauty, sass and a touch of sex appeal.

Some of the drawings that I did this past weekend. I am looking to create my own patterns from my own sketches. Obviously they aren't up to real fashion designers' levels but I am just sharing where my inspiration has taken me. What do you think?!

OM: Finding my Motivation

This past Saturday I started my journey into what I believe will be my most successful jaunt into weight loss that I have ever had. I joined Weight Watchers but not only that, I have the support of my mother (who is in this with me) and my man, who is on this ride with me whether he likes it or not! 

I have done WW before and other types of diets but never really stuck with them... or I've lost weight and gained it back... or I've just been unwilling to motivate myself over and over... but this time? I have found my will power. I have made healthy and delicious meals this week; I have felt satisfied. I don't know what happened to me but I am hopeful, motivated and focused... all of which I will need to see me to my 20 pounds by May and 40 pounds by October. We have a cruise in November and I plan to be fit, healthy and self assured. So far so good... and I really feel like I can do it! Every moment this week felt like a good one!

OM is a weekly meet up that promotes living in the moment. Whether funny, sad, ridiculous, or banal, actively looking for and sharing these moments will promote balance in our lives. 

OM: Love What You Do

I have been totally letting my blogging go lately. I usually have ideas swimming through my head, enough so that I need to jot them down, but lately I have been feeling muted and blah. I just recently went back to work after being on leave ( a little too soon I might add) and I just feel like the landscape of my life has grayed a bit. It takes a lot more energy to do a lot less these day and my tolerance for BS is pretty low as well... all these things combined have made for a pretty lackluster creative flow as of late. So what do I do? I complain about it. Here is where my moment came this week. Convo as follows:

@TheArtistsHouse This whole "working" thing has totally made me behind in my quilting!

@PrimandPropah That's alright. I'm not going anywhere ;)

@TheArtistsHouse You ever get in a funk where you look at your sewing machine and you're like, Meh, too much trouble? That's me lately.

@PrimandPropah No, that never happens to me, but I'm weird that way. I honestly love to sew, all the time ;)

I have a million projects I need to finish... cuffs for readers, steps in a quilt along, a multitude of crafty posts that I have started but just never finished...  Lately, every day I think about this list of "To-Do's" that I am holding myself too, like a job, one that is a chore. What I really need to do is look at this whole kit 'n caboodle like it really is, my labor of love. You know what Angela? I love to sew too! I love to blog about it! It shouldn't be a chore, something I begrudgingly do. It should be what excites me and makes me happy. I am reminded of that Life is Good slogan "Do what you like, like what you do"... but I'll take it one step further "Do what you love, love what you do"... Words to live by.

PS. This week's pride and joy! I cared for my new Bonsai tree so much that I got my first bloom which in the dead of Winter is an inspiration in and of itself.

OM is a weekly meet up that promotes living in the moment. Whether funny, sad, ridiculous, or banal, actively looking for and sharing these moments will promote balance in our lives. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's a little late but I just wanted to give a smidge of a Valentine's Day shoutout to all my peeps that have supported me in this blogging slash crafting endeavor over the past 6+ months. I cannot express how grateful that I am for all the support. Love you all! XOXO

The Human Spirit

I have been feeling really moved lately by the human spirit. Now before you stop reading because you think this is going to get all mushy, I just want you to stop and really think about how powerful we all can be when we really put our minds to something. (Pause here... you should be thinking)

“Human spirit is like the wind,” said Jimmy Carter to the United Nations. “We can’t see it, but we can see its effects in every aspect of our lives, which are profound.” 

I watching this week's episode of My Fair Wedding with David Tuterra (don't laugh) and I am not kidding when I tell you that the episode made me cry with an outpouring of emotion over his latest bride. Kim (our bride) was diagnosed with Breast Cancer at the age of 30. 30 years old! Can you believe that?! Talk about hardship at an extremely young age. Anyway, David helped her plan an absolutely fabulous wedding themed totally around raising awareness for Breast Cancer. As you can imagine, the entire episode was emotional from the wig fittings to the grand reveal. Though this was a television show, I felt as if I could really see the genuine love and affection that this bride had for her groom but also through the things that they had experience together, some of it extremely difficult, the real human spirit in the both of them. Moving episode aside, I have now discovered that this beautiful couple are embarking on a Road to Surrogacy, in order to start the family that they always dreamed of... talk about trying to overcome major obstacles to get what you have always dreamed of, right? Gah, sobfest to the max but also touching to the max.

"The human spirit needs to accomplish, to achieve, to triumph to be happy." -Ben Stein

A friend of mine lost her 16 year old brother this past week and of course, I am worried about her. It is never easy to lose someone you love. It is never easy to experience heart ache. It is never easy to keep moving forward but I know she will get through this stronger and more resilient. She is one of the best people I know, has a huge heart and the love and support of family and friends. This is an example of where the human spirit moves us forward.

I am constantly inspired by how people can overcome such complex hardships, how people make up their mind to go for their dreams, how people can profoundly touch others' lives with their actions... the list could go on and on and on. The human spirit will help Christina Aguilera get past her National Anthem snafu because I am pretty sure she is feeling pretty low right now. Let's shout it people, the human spirit is an amazing thing! Will you join me in celebrating it?

"The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it." -George C. Scott

 

OM: Try to Feel Young

So I am here to admit to you that my One Moment this week came in the form of made for TV movies. (Pause here to contemplate this) My last few weeks have been spent at home due to both a surgery and also the Northeast being pounded by snow week after week.... This has left me no choice but to spend my time doing things like crafting, reading, working and, that's right, watching TV. 

I forgot how much I really don't like daytime TV until this past month. I don't dig soap operas or talk shows all that much so I have resorted to Netflix streaming through Manfriend's XBox. They have a delightful variety of movies and tv shows but what I have been leaning towards are romantic comedies in the form of Made for TV... and not just any movies... those geared towards teenagers and college girls. Gah, I admitted it but importantly, I totally have enjoyed watching them. Just today, I watched Beauty and the Briefcase, starring a Miss Hilary Duff and Starstruck, even worse because it was made for the Disney Channel.... nope you know what? I might just whip out the High School Musical trilogy if push comes to shove. I like youthful silliness!

I know I am not exactly going out to pasture anytime soon but it is really easy to feel old doing the same stuff day in and day out. I realized that in watching my silly movies made for ABCFamily and The Disney Channel, that I am just feeding my inner teenager, quenching the thirst for fun and frivolity! I had to stop and think for a second... what am I holding back from... I should be going out of my way to feel fun and young as often as possible. Shouldn't I? Dude, I might just have a new goal for this year. Feed my inner teenager (without the curfew and immature boys).

PS. Beauty and the Briefcase was actually pretty good. No joke.

OM is a weekly meet up that promotes living in the moment. Whether funny, sad, ridiculous, or banal, actively looking for and sharing these moments will promote balance in our lives. 

Loving Wichser Studio, Like Whoa!

So I recently discovered Gale at Wichser Studio and let me tell you that I am SO.EXCITED! Her jewelry has got a dash of vintage, a smidge of romance and a whole lotta character! I love handmade jewelry that is unlike anything you could purchase in a normal, run of the mill kinda store... and Gale designs just that! Take a look at some of my favorites from her Etsy shop. They are sure to please <3 Let me know what you think!

Magenta Feather Long Beaded Necklace

Asymmetrical LadyGrace Earrings

Crochet Me a Doily Long Layered Necklace

Hey and you know what? Gale is doing a giveaway ending on February 4th, so head on over and enter before it's too late! Gotta love a good giveaway!