Happy New Years!

One of my favorite pictures...

Do you have a moral obligation to not wear diamonds?

Just something to sleep on - Ive thought alot about the blood diamond issue even before the film was made and now working in a jewelry shop I think about it even more.

Vintage Beauties!

In my quest for vintage designs yesterday I found the most beautiful vintage website, some of these dresses are so beautiful words can barely touch on describing them. These are a few of my favorite! I think half the fun of having a vintage dress is the experience of finding it at a thrift store or a closet at an estate sale or knowing you got a fabulous deal on it so I probably won't be buying from here, but none the less these are something else! The website is run by one girl and I do wonder where she got such beauties and how I could ever come to be so lucky? She said something about an old warehouse, wouldn't that be beautiful to stumble across. As a little girl I dreamed of being allowed to visit the wardrobe department's costume warehouses, or better yet becoming a star and getting to actually ware some of those creations! Clothing was made so much better back then and with such flair and respect for the occasion I am happy to be able to have a few vintage pieces of my own.

New dress to make!

Day after Christmas, very nice - now I'm thinking about everything I wanted to get done over break, including the dress I want to make for graduation. I found a vintage pattern very similar to what I want from the Vogue Vintage patterns line. I was thinking a few shades of green, like a kelly green and some celery but I have some pumpkin fabric that I am also thinking about because I could afford to mess up on the pumpkin but not the greens :) I was also thinking about doing some gathering at the top and a sheer overlay of celery netting if I do the green. What do you think?

Relaxing morning, pulled muscle in my leg + walk = ouch! but overall a nice day!

Christmas at home is so yummy and fun!

Trying to go home but its raining and I cant find my phone :(

Going home tomorrow to see the family and especially my brother who was been in Afghanistan for the past year. I am very excited to just relax with everyone and eat goodies!

Falalala lalalala

Long day today

Office party and someones birthday last night, tired and sick today, cleaning and cleaning and cleaning - josh worked and is playing frisbee golf in the rain and dark

I've been giving my first presents today - its wonderful!

Life sucks today - i totally messed up my back today at work - the result of many bad posture computer days and came home to find a broken speaker :) and that my best new vintage find had blead in the laundry because it wasn't hung up to ddry quick enough - I never even got to wear the thing! I am trying to salvage it right now - we shall see.

I LOVE TEA COZYS!

So I saw this book yesterday and it reminded me of something I love - tea cozys or tea cozies as this book puts it.

Wish List Time!

There are so many good things out there!
I need a robe hook! I never have anywhere to hang my robe, except in the closet and I have 8AM class - I don't have time for that! So I decided instead of going out and buying a cheap one I needed to be patient and wait until something came along - and it didn't, but now Christmas is coming along so here is what I have been wishing for (my robe)! This blue porcelain hook on the right looks really cute. However these two hooks with double hooks are just as cute and look more useful so I would probably go for them! I guess whoever gets it for me will have to decide! All three of these are from Anthropologie, I event checked at Lowe's and Home Depot and Target - Nobody had the variety that Anthro had - I was surprised. But anyway I'm not picky I just want a robe hook that I wouldn't mind looking at. The switch plate at the bottom of this post is also from Anthropolgie, I have always heard that a colorful switch plate is one why to change an apartment's feel without a lot of work. I think that could be true so I've been looking for awhile - you cant tell until you zoom in on the website picture but this is really an interesting switch plate pattern!


I realized a few months ago that I have two mismatched mixing bowls and it would be really nice to have mixing bowls that nest - I think I would end up making a lot more cookies and quiches!
I just purchased a few vintage looking pastel blue loaf pans and I really thought these yellow mixing bowls would go perfect with them but alas they are no longer in Target stores. However these blue ones are which are beautiful and they would go with the loaf pans well. I just found the Typhoon vintage website, where they are sold out of my loaf pan and are charging two times what I paid, hmmm. Anyway, all of this stuff is beautiful - I've been really surprised at just how much I love it. There is a tea shop, tas tea in Corvallis that I walk by a lot, they carry the cream canister, its on special right now, and I am so GD tempted every time!


There are also a few frames I would like
- I want one 8X10 metal frame for a cute reproduction French 1850's wallpaper thing I have!
- also I have a beautiful art deco poster that has been waiting to be put up since my last birthday! (April) that needs any kind of a 10 X18 frame, maybe copper, black or gold, silver wouldn't look too good since the drawings colors are greens, oranges and creams.

web 2.0 speech today!

cleaning and cleaning, wow tons of pop cans pile up over one term - by that i mean beer cans - i don't drink soda. There are also tons of pine needles EVERYWHERE from my dendrology course this past term. Yesterday the fridge, today the stairs and tomorrow the storage area! I'm scared about that one!

done, im finally DONE! interesting stuff soon to come - i am totally refabing my apartment, my roommate is moving out so it will be bigger!!!!

work today, paper tonight, off tomorrow, in my dreams, probably paper tomorrow too and off friday night! darn i want to be over with this!

almost there

last final was this evening, I have a big paper due on friday and my roommate is moving out - so after friday i get to concentrate on blog and beautifying my apartment!

FINALS WEEK, finals today and tm and a big paper due on fri, with a tourism convention to speak at on sunday ! ahhhh!

Unusual Inspiration

Can you guess what it is? Find out tomorrow when i have time to finish this :)

Amazing Tesla

Card Catalogue

I saw one of these the other day and thought about what a great storage place it would be for small things in my new studio - like ribbon and paper scraps. This way I could label each one too! I looked on Craigslist for a few places - Corvallis, Portland and Eugene but all I found was a plastic/metal one and a really old listing for a modern rendition. I think this will be a great addition to my new place - I just hope I can find a decently priced one.

Rosemary swags!

So I have been making rosemary and lavender swags to use for lots of things. I use them for cooking and for decoration and for car fresheners. It is really great, I found a plant on campus and there is a HUGE plant right in front of Josh's house so there is never a scarcity. I will upload some pictures of these soon they are not decorated or anything but I really like them for the smell and the look!

What I want now.

There are these abosultuely beautiful porcaline mugs that Starbucks put out limited edition. Normally I don't buy mugs new because there are just too many old ones looking for homes but I love these quilted mugs. The cheapest I have been able to find them is $14 each! on ebay - which is a little out of my college price range. Does anyone know anything useful about these? I just wish I had seen them when they were in the store...Sigh.
All I can do is keep looking and hope to stumble across them in a thrift store sometime in the next few years. This is all making me realize just how much I love vintage and vintage looking kitchen items and items that look like milk glass.
I hope everyone is having a great long weekend!

Vintage Inspiration...

Mack Sennett's Bathing Beauties

Steam

Retro Kitchen - dinner is cooking!

A headboard...

So I have really been looking forward to the idea of a headboard because it means your there... no more moving every term - you just might have some stability in your life. I havent had a headboard in forever largely because I haven't had time to think about one since I got a larger bed and largely because I haven't wanted to drag one around through all of these moves. So I want to keep it cheap yet chic, here is what I am thinking. This fabric - rich in color but not too bright and wont get dirty too quick. I write alot in bed and ink stains are routine... Anyway, this fabric, a quilted silk on a plain rectangle headboard. I had thought of having some shape to it but I like the idea of being able to use it as another inspiration board like the board on the left.

New furniture

Okay, so I know it is six months away, my new apartment, but I can’t resist thinking about what I am going to put in it. Lately I have been hypothesizing about a new couch or chair – do I need one - nope but I really really want one. Lately I have been stuck by bold silk fabric prints that have an old-fashioned feel but with a punch of color. This one on the left was the first to catch my eye. I don't have a use for such a chair being uncomfy and all but the fabric is fabulous. The couch below is another pattern that I really liked – I don’t actually like the couch but I do like the fabric. As much as I love these patterns my boyfriend says they will be "out of style yesterday" and I think he has a point and that I might get sick of them asap which leads me to think that I may want to just keep these silks to some nice throw pillows.

They could look great with the chair that I know I will be purchasing first thing for my new apartment. I have had my heart set on a comfy leather chair for several years now, something I can crawl up in and write and have “me space” in, it has been my long anticipated graduation present to myself. I call it my Aidan chair because I first fell in love with it on a Sex and The City episode. Mine will be slightly different in that I want leather on the arms too to make it a bit more comfortable. This is about what it will look like.

Darfur, you and me.

Here at the end of Darfur Awareness Week I think about how little we have done, I've talked about it to people and I've written my state representatives about it - So what?

Life - to live, to breath and if your lucky to have some choices. Life is the most important thing, we should not sleep until children are no longer being killed like this - that is it we should not sleep, but we do and soundly. Three dollars can save one person from being murdered in Darfur for the entire year and yet we sleep soundly. So tonight as we do all nights we will go to our Serta beds in our secure neighborhoods and sleep soundly thinking only of ourselves, our workloads, our sorrows and our joys.
I guess we are all helping with population control by not lending a helping hand and sleeping soundly at night.

Nice to meet you

So - My name is Melinda-Claire and I want to be... a writer first and foremost which is good because I do some of that now.. a photographer.. a designer..an activist.. a event coordinator.. an environmentalist, a creator of beautiful things in some way.

I graduate soon and I am looking forward to my new life but trying not to look so far forward that I miss the bliss, or potential bliss of these last collegiate days.

I have several projects I am working on now - I am putting together my first ever professional quality website, a wedding resource site for Corvallis area (Benton County) brides. I am also trying to build up my article archive for when I have time to actually sell them! Lastly I am redecorating and creating things! I am sanding and repainting a cute little corner desk to be my writing haven and trying to not neglect my studies!