Lazy Week

Well it was one lazy weekend around here last weekend.  I don't think I got anything accomplished.  I didn't even get all the laundry done!  It doesn't look like this week is going to be any better either.  I suppose it's to be expected for a 4 day week, though.

I don't have any photos to share today.  I did get some hair clips and bobby pins decorated last week but, no pictures, yet.  I'll try to get them up soon.

I've been trying to come up with a good idea for my Christmas cards for this year.  I've had a few random thoughts about them but, no concrete design concepts.  I do know that I want a non-traditional color scheme.  Last year it was pink.  This year I'm thinking shabby chic with pink and aqua.  They can't have any embellishments that will make them hard to mail which is giving me fits.  I love all the bling and flowers and stuff on cards.  I guess I'll have to stick to glitter and ribbon or lace.

I also want to do another banner for my desk at work.  Of course I want it shabby chic style with lots of glitter and bling and flowers and you get the idea.  I can't seem to get any ideas to gel for me right now.  Hopefully next weekend will be better.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Crafting and a New Outfit

Well this has been a week!  I took Friday off to get the oil in my car changed, get the safety inspection, and get the car license renewed.  When the techs tried to star my car after the oil change it wouldn't start.  Now it's in the shop and they can get it started but, they can't keep it running.  I had all sorts of plans for Friday and this week, too.  ;_;  This is going to be expensive, too, I bet. ;;;_;;;

So, since I was stuck at home for an extended weekend I got a bit of crafting done.  I saw in the current issue of Somerset Studio magazine an article about spool ornaments by Linda Trenholm and it inspired me to make my own.  I have a bunch of old wooden spools that my mom gave me.  They are all the smaller size that will be perfect to make into ornaments.  Here is the result of my first attempt:

And a little closer look:

I have three more painted and ready to embellish but, realized after I painted them that I didn't have any ribbon to match.  (Yay, shopping for ribbon!!)

I also had seen somewhere (I can't remember exactly where) the spring-type clothespins decorated with Washi tape.  As I have a huge collection of Washi tape and rarely use it I thought this would be a cute idea, too.  I also have all of Mom's old clothespins to use!  I'm pretty pleased with the results.

These are the ones with the Washi tape.  I added a bit of bling, too!

And these are just painted with acrylics after sanding.  Then I added the roses and the bling.  You could put magnets on the backs so they hang on the refrigerator or, thumbtacks and hang them on a bulletin board.  I started a couple of other projects, too, but ran into roadblocks.  Hopefully I'll have a bit more done next week.  I'm really getting some great Shabby Chic inspiration from Pinterest lately.  If you're interested you can follow me there, too.  http://www.pinterest.com/luvloveless/boards/

I have one more photo to share this week.  This is an outfit that I decided could be a bit Mori inspired.  I tend to only wear Mori-style tops.  The skirts and dresses commonly worn in Mori aren't very practical for where I work so, I usually pair my tops with jeans or khakis.  I have found some jeans in Mori colors, though.  I have a pair in taupe and a pair in a fern green.  There's also a pair in brown but, I haven't bought them yet.

Outfit rundown:  button-down shirt-JC Penney (St. John's Bay brand)

Tshirt- thrifted (Cherokee brand)

Jeans-Kmart (Lee brand)

The button-down shirt has pin tucks and lacing down the front so it has a lot of detail to it that doesn't show up in the picture.  It's also very light weight so I have to wear something under it.  The t-shirt has little pink flowers all over it.

Well, I guess that's about it for this week.  I hope I get my car back soon!

Have a great week!!

New Jewelry

Not much to write about this week.  The weather has turned much colder yesterday and today, but it seems that the temps will be heading back up tomorrow and into the weekend.  I spent last weekend working on a set of boxes that I was decorating for my local scrapbook store.  I don't have any photos to put up yet, but I think I can put some up next week.  I did finally get a picture of the rest of the jewelry that I made.

The pendant in the center with the owl on it is a watch!  The front is hinged with a spring hinge (so I can't get it to stay open so I could take a photo).  It's really heavy to wear though so I probably won't wear it often.

I've been trying to get another thrifting day in, but it seems that there's always something else that needs to be done.  Hopefully I'll be able to fit it in on Friday around getting the car seen to.  I need to find some skirts and/or dresses that I can use for layering.  I'd also like a heavy cardigan.  The ones I have are all pretty light.

I bought my first Christmas decorations for this year.  I found a set of the bottle brush style trees in pink with pink and teal ornaments on them.  There were three sizes.  I got the larger one first and then decided that I needed the other two.  So, tonight I went back and got them, too.  I think they're very shabby chic.

They'll go well with all the other shabby chic Christmas stuff that I use.  I was very excited to find them.  I also saw a light teal glitter tree at Target that I may have to go and buy.  I think the color will go well with the rest of the stuff.  I don't want it to be all pink, so I need some accent colors.

I checked a book out of the library called Fa, La, La, La, Felt.  It has several patterns for Christmas ornaments and little decorative items that looked very Mori-style to me.  Little mushroom ornaments and some evergreen trees with woodland animals and some stuffed owls that were really cute.  I'll post some photos of the projects I make when I get them done.

Have a great week!

Mori Haul

Not much going on here this week.  It's been so overcast and rainy that I couldn't get down to the woods to take any pictures.  So, I'll share my Mori haul this time.

I went to the Scrapbook Convention in October with my cousin, and there was a booth there selling clothes.  At a scrapbook convention?  Really??  They also had scrapbooking supplies and papers.  The company is called Adorn It.  They have a website and you can follow them on FaceBook.  Their website has a boutique where you can buy some of their clothing.  They are also opening a storefront in Logan, UT.  Your best bet for getting your hands on their clothing is to attend a scrapbook convention in your area since that is where they are concentrating their sales.  They are a little expensive (for me anyway).  Anyway,  here are the pieces I bought:

This is a light (kind of minty) green top (not really sure what it's really called).  It has a tie at the front waist and the rest of the waist is elasticized so it's really comfy.  It come just over the tops of my thighs which is a good length for me.  I posted a pic of me wearing it in my last post (here).

This is an ivory lace tunic.  It's a little long on me but, it's still too short for me to wear it as a dress.  So for now I guess I'll wear it with leggings.  I wore it that way to my Uncle's birthday celebration but, I forgot to take a picture. :(

This is my favorite piece!  I got a lace vest!  Finally!!  I love this vest and have worn it several times (at least once a week).  The above photo is the front and you can see the back below.  Gorgeous isn't it?

I also bought this scarf but, I haven't worn it yet.  I have a couple of other scarves that I think will be great for Mori but, I haven't worn them yet, either.

I still haven't gotten photos taken of all the other jewelry that I've made.  And this last weekend I finally got a hair clip done.  I want to make some more hair stuff like clips and bobby pins and stuff.

Hope you're all having a great week!

The Trees are Finally Turning

Well it seems like it took a while, but the trees are finally getting really colorful here.  I went out on Saturday and took some photos around the yard.  Unfortunately several of them didn't turn out very good once I uploaded them to the computer.  I'll have to try again when the weather clears.  It's really cloudy and rainy here today, but the weather on Saturday was gorgeous.  Just look at this sky!

This is our cottonwood tree.  There aren't many leaves left now after the rain.  The maples in the fence row are changing, too.  I took this picture earlier last week.

The color doesn't show up very well in the photo, but it's really a pretty gold color.  Our neighbors have a couple that are a fabulous bright orange.  Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to go down in the woods and get some good photos.

Some years ago my mom found a Solomon's Seal plant down in our woods.  She transplanted it to the yard and now it has formed a colony.  They turn a lovely golden yellow in the fall and have fruits that kind of look like blueberries hanging along the stem.

While I was out in the yard looking around I spied this little cedar tree struggling to find room under one of the maple trees.  I'll have to dig it up and move it to its own area so it will have plenty of room.

I just have one more photo to show.  I have another Mori outfit to share.  I'll make another post later this week to tell you about my Mori haul.

I'll see you all later!  Have a great week!

First Frost

Well, last night we had our first frost of the season.  Luckily I had already gotten most of the potted plants inside.  I moved the last of the herbs in yesterday evening.  I think everything in my yard would have been fine, though.  Since my yard is surrounded by trees and shrubs it needs to get down into the 20's before I really have any plant damage.  The roses seem just fine.  They'll bloom up until we get a hard freeze.

Busy Weekend

Had a busy weekend here.  We celebrated my Uncle's 90th birthday on Sunday, and I was asked to help put the photo boards together for the party.  So, I didn't have much time to do fun Mori things over the weekend.  I do have another outfit coord to show, though.  This was from last week.

And with the cardigan:

I think that's all for now.  I can't think of anything else to add.  I do have a couple of pieces of jewelry that I made but, I haven't gotten photos of them yet.  Hopefully I'll get them up later this week. 

 Have a great day!

I am a Mori Girl

I can't believe how long it's been since I updated this!  I really need to do better here.  Maybe if I give myself a concrete goal for posting I could keep up.  Well, this is Tuesday so, how about I update at least once a week on Tuesday.  There, I've put it in writing!  Now I can't back out and I have no excuses for not getting in a regular update.  Perhaps I should put a reminder on my phone, too.  Hmmm...probably not a bad idea since I still have to have an alarm remind me to take my allergy meds.  There!  Now that that's done on to the new blog post!

I have recently been thinking about updating my wardrobe.  It's been basically jeans and t-shirts for several years now and I'm tired of them.  Don't get me wrong I love my jeans and T's it's just that I'm ready to wear something else sometimes.  So, in looking on Pinterest for some ideas I stumbled across the Japanese street fashion movement called Mori kei.

'Mori' means 'forest' in Japanese and that's the feeling that the style tries to evoke, that of someone who lives in a forest-type setting.  Now I'm not sure which forests they're taking their inspiration from, but it certainly isn't the one I live in!  The style consists mainly of loose, flowing layers; soft neutral or pastel colors; and lots of layers.  Floral and fauna images and prints are acceptable and Scandinavian-style patterns are also popular.  The clothes also seem to have more detailing than a lot of other styles that I'm used to.  Pintucks and pleats on blouses, ruffles and lace on skirts, and peter-pan collars all add to the overall look.  However, I would never wear this style out for a ramble in my woods!  All those loose, flowing layers would get hopelessly tangled in the underbrush and briars!

I have a Pin-board of many outfits now for inspiration called 'I'd Wear This'.  I keep adding to it as I find new photos on a daily basis.  I'm trying to incorporate at least a semblance of the style into my everyday wardrobe.  I've found (due to a major closet and dresser drawer clean-out) that I already had several items that were great for the Mori style that I'm going for.  The area thrift stores also yielded a veritable treasure trove of goodies.  The problem I seem to be having is that the weather is not cooperating very well.  We are now into the third week of October (well into the fall season) and the temperatures are still in the 60s.  It's very hard to do much layering in the warmer weather.  Anyway, here is a picture I took of me in my first attempt at wearing a Mori style outfit for work.  (It ended up being way too hot!)

This was also my first time being photo-bombed. :D  I think I did ok for a first attempt.  I'll probably be wearing most all my outfits to work which means skirts are out.  I'll be wearing jeans or kahkis mostly. Shoes are also giving me a hard time.  I have wide feet and a high instep so finding shoes that fit right is becoming more and more of a problem.

Accessorizing my outfits will be a snap, though!  Since I make jewelry I figured I could just make a few things that would work.  Well, I found a line of jewelry components at Hobby Lobby that were perfect for the Mori style, and they were half off!!  WOOT!!  So, I have been crafting jewelry like mad to go with my new look.

Necklaces

Bracelets & Earrings

I've been having too much fun with this style to do much else lately.  I'll try to get some fall photos up soon.

Roses

Well, it's been a good six months since my last post (again) although not much has changed here.  We are getting more rain this year than last thank goodness.  It's overcast and dark again today.  Yesterday we got over two inches of rain in about four hours!  I think we've gotten about four inches of rain in the last two weeks.  It sure makes the grass grow fast, though.  We have had to mow once a week this spring.  The roses are growing like weeds, too.  I got out and got some pictures the day before yesterday when it was just overcast.  My hand is in some of them because it was a bit breezy out and the flowers would't hold still.

This is Abraham Darby a David Austin rose.  It has become quite overgrown this year, but it is just covered in blooms.

This one is Baron Prevost.  It's a hybrid perpetual and blooms all summer which is unusual in an antique rose.

This is Madame Hardy.  She only blooms in the spring, but she's well worth it!

This is my climber, Zephirine Drouhin.  It's a thornless rose, the only one I've ever found to be truly thorn free.  This is the first year it's really bloomed heavy like this.  It needs to be tied back up onto the gate, though.

Here is a close-up of the blooms.

This one I call Mary Nina after my grandmother.  I dug it up from her old flower garden after I was bitten by the rose bug many years ago.  It sat and did nothing for about three years after I replanted it, and I was afraid it had reverted back to the old rootstock, Dr. Huey.  Then, finally, it had two buds and I could tell that it was not a Dr. Huey!  I was so excited!!  The next year it showed me what it really could do.  It was covered in flowers, and they have the best old rose fragrance of any roses that I have.  It hasn't disappointed me since.

Here are a couple of Mom's iris.  She had so very many of them and knew all their names.  Since she's been gone I don't know what any of them are called.  They came through the drought pretty well, but are not blooming as heavily as they usually do.

Until next time (another six months?) I bid you happy gardening!