Under Venus' Spell

Digital Art is challenging, to say the least.  I have been messing with my Photoshop Elements, Pic Monkey and Polyvore to try to create a digital art work.

Here is my first attempt...a collage of elements put together in the Polyvore application. Unfortunately, I haven't mastered or have an idea how to master creating a digital art work in a stand alone program...don't even know where to start.  Meanwhile, I at least figured how to import some of my manipulated photos into the Polyvore app, and was able to create this, my first piece of work.

Any ideas or suggestions...I think I'm addicted to the process...

Under Venus' Spell by laurel-dismukes featuring silk scarves

Pretty Polly black pantyhose
revolveclothing.com

Buccellati gold jewelry
scullyandscully.com

Vince Camuto statement necklace
vincecamuto.com

Silk scarve
elizabetta.net

Magical Impulse...

I entered a contest at Polyvore...to create a set using fashions from Macy's...the "Polyvores" are all so creative so I doubt I'll win, but hey, it was fun to take a stab at it!!

Meanwhile, I may have to go get this skirt.

Magical Impulse... by laurel-dismukes featuring long evening skirts

Denim Supply by Ralph Lauren evening top
macys.com

Denim Supply by Ralph Lauren long evening skirt
macys.com

Destroyed shorts
macys.com

Climbing out...

It started with a kiss,

a tender peck on the cheek

filled with hidden danger.

Scrubbing hands,

endless drops of sanitizer

could not alter its course.

Coughing, dripping

sweaty nights of sleeplessness

his cold engulfed me...

Hacking...

Enough already! I think my pity party is ending and I am climbing out of a month long hole. It's funny how sickness overwhelms our souls and we are immobilized, even to the point of depression. I haven't done much in the past month, but Spring is calling and I don't want to be found wanting.
 

But it's not like I haven't done anything...from my couch.

I'm addicted to the creativity on Polyvore and have been creating sets.
It feeds my artsy right brain...

Between the coughing fits, I finished my leaf shawl...   

Yesterday I sewed...We had a nice dinner at home...I did some wardrobe planning with Suzan (Fabric Lady) on her blog...I'm taking my princess out to lunch today for her birthday...Tomorrow I'm headed to Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics to have some serious wardrobe enhancements...

Basically, I'm climbing out.

Laurel. On the other side.

Something Out of Nothing

In case you haven't noticed on Pinterest lately, there are tons of examples of recycled clothing. Only they don't call it recycling any more - when you take something old and make it into something new, it's now called "re-purposing" or "upcycling". You can find people making  making dresses out of men's dress shirts, aprons out of old skirts, and skirts upcycled from blue jeans.

I have to admit, I'm fascinated with this whole idea...not that I'm "Green" or anything, but I like the idea of taking something that I never wear and somehow converting to something that I will, rather than toss it into the Goodwill bag. I do have to say that many of the Upcycling ideas on the Internet are a tad too "Shabby Chic/vintage" for my style...too many ruffles and raw, raveling edges.

What has always appealed to me as a seamstress is finding a photo or trying an outfit on and then figuring out how to make something like it from scratch. Upcycling may be another way to achieve some of the looks that I have found.

For instance ...I LOVE this blouse that I found on Pinterest... I love the lace on the sleeves combined with the fabric.

 

I have a black stretchy lace blouse that I purchased several years ago for New Years. I haven't worn it since, as it looks...well, let's just say that the stretch factor seems to have shrunk on my ample bosom (LOL!).  I also had a piece of very soft thin gray and black printed knit that I've had since last summer - I have never been sure it I really liked it after I bought it. 

I cut the the blouse off and then fashioned a bodice out of the knit.  The result is Colette's first upcycled creation! I'm thinking it will go great with my black skinny jeans.

Yesterday, my daughter and I went to "Nasty Goodwill" - that's the regional distribution center where they throw everything in giant bins and you need gloves and hand sanitizer to claw your way through things.  Amy is usually successful finding lots of housewares and bric-a brac to upcycle into yard art, but I always hope to find clothing articles that I can Upcycle.  Yesterday was not very successful, other than a very large chiffon print nightie that I could potentially do something with - the print is soft and lovely, but we'll see.  Stay tuned.

Laurel.  Very "Green" today!!!

  

Travel #9

Travel #9 by laurel-dismukes showing how to wear bracelet jewelry

Boat neck top
$82 - pret-a-beaute.com

Michael Kors woolen pants
stylebop.com

Jimmy choo pumps
net-a-porter.com

Relic mini crossbody handbag
jcpenney.com

Jamie Joseph 14 karat gold ring
twistonline.com

Tory Burch bracelet jewelry
toryburch.com

Tom Ford metal glasses
neimanmarcus.com

Charlotte Russe black headphone
charlotterusse.com

Happy Valentines, Polyvore!❤️

Happy Valentines, Polyvore!❤️ by laurel-dismukes featuring a polka dot teapot

Chrome lighting
$250 - interiorsonline.com.au

Amara black and white zebra rug
$990 - amara.com

Polka dot teapot
wayfair.com

Faux silk drapery panel
wayfair.com

Wood home decor
1stdibs.com

Accent chair
eldoradofurniture.com

Loving Polyvore...

Half the fun of traveling for me is in the planning, especially for my travel wardrobe.  This trip I want to accomplish several goals when it comes to planning what to take:

1) I don't want to look like a tourist, if that's possible.

2.) I don't want to over pack.

3.) I want to make many of the items that I plan to take

I have been having way too much fun lately with Polyvore, an app that allows you to pick items that are for sale and turn the images into a collage...kinda like Pinterest on steroids. On the Polyvore site, I can peruse hundreds of styles of pants, tops, jackets, accessories, etc and put them all together for a travel "look". Polyvore calls my collage of these items a "set". 

The Polyvore App appeals to my artistic nature, in that I can pair my wardrobe pieces with backgrounds, textures, and text etc. to make a pretty "Set". But the real advantage is that I have a place to store my wardrobe ideas for future reference.

I just figured out how to post my Set into my blog using HTML, so I'm thinking that I can blog about how I took my imaginary set in Polyvore and converted it to real life using my sewing, careful shopping and jewelry making skills. 

And then write about it!!

I will purchase some of the items for my wardrobe, but as you might expect, me and the fabrics at Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics are going to rock it! Since we will be driving a lot, I will have to have a certain amount of travel friendly pieces...but the real fun is planning for the Paris leg of our trip. For that, throw out practicality and bring on the fashion!!!

Laurel. Newly minted Polyvore addict.

A Shawl by any other name...

I have worn this poor frazzled shawl forever.  It has been to Europe twice, Croatia once, countless dinners here in the valley, a bazillion evenings out with friends and been my constant companion on many a cool summer evening by the pool. I learned this week from my knitting friends that it's technically a Ruana, because of the way it is styled. Call it what you want - all I know is that I wish I would have bought one in every color years ago!

Not wishing to actually KNIT one as suggested by my knitting friends (too much stockinette for this Chicka), it occurred to me that I could probably sew one, if I could find a soft enough fabric - one with lots of drape. Mentally, I put that on my list of things to complete before our France vacation this Fall.

Meanwhile, my daughter and I were "touring" IKEA this week, and I happened upon a soft woven off-white throw...you know where this is going, don't you. It was the perfect size, color and feel that I was looking for in a new Ruana. I did note that the display throws in the store looked a little "pilled" from constant fingering, but hey, if it lasts til Paris, I'm good to go.

IKEA's strange product names - Gurli is a woman's name.

I measured the throw against my black shawl, which is slightly smaller than the 47"X 71" of the Gurli throw.

The lengthwise edges of the throw already have a nice tightly woven selvage edge, but the width of the throw was hemmed.
Cut the two hemmed edges at both ends off.

I want my Ruana to have the same long fringe that my black one does, so I will need to secure the loosely woven fabric above the fringe line.  In order to stay on the straight grain of the fabric, I pulled a single thread of the fabric about 6 inches away from the edge.  That will be my guide for the "blanket stitch" safety row.

Because my throw fabric is pretty loosely woven I stitched two rows of blanket stitches at each end of the throw, above the fringe line. Once the security rows were sewn, settle yourself into some major "fringing", which involves pulling out the crosswise rows to create the fringe.

As if the fringing wasn't tedious enough, knotting the fringe is over the top. I used about 10 threads for each knot. Laborious to say the lest, but totally worth it. Knotting also helps keep the fringe from pulling on the woven fabric above.

My IKEA Gurli throw becomes a chic Ruana when it is cut lengthwise up the middle on one end, stopping a little more than half way through the full length. (Refer back to the original black shawl photo above, if that doesn't make sense!)  Finish the Ruana by serging the cut edges and reinforcing
the "V" at the center back.

My new Ruana is just as light, yet cozy as the old black knit one.  The Gurli throw comes in lot's of other colors - red, blue , grey, etc.
May have to go back for a red one.
I love it!!!

Laurel. Working on that Paris wardrobe!!

Let's End in Paris...

Half of the fun of traveling is in the planning. A trip to Europe requires a lot of research, unless you opt for a guided tour. Though Dave and I have done the whole tour bus thing, and though it was exciting and not too confining, we have decided to put together our own vacation to celebrate our 30th anniversary this year.

I was absolutely glued to the Le Tour de France this past year. Everyday I watched the superhuman bicyclists but I was more entranced by the videos of the French countryside - the quaint towns and picturesque mountains of the Pyrenees and the Alps were captivating. That whole Provincial area captured my interest and though we don't plan to retrace the Tour's routes, we hope to travel the region by car, ending up in Paris...sitting in a sidewalk cafe...sipping wine.

And so the preparation begins. Not withstanding the whole "planes, trains and automobiles"/hotel circus on the Internet, I want to learn some of the French language via Duo Lingo, a free app for your phone..more about that later. I'm also trying to get back to healthy eating, so that I can shed some unwanted pounds, but more about that later too. Which brings me to the fun part:

What do I take to wear?

Planning your travel wardrobe is easy as long as you don't care whether you are stylish or fashion conscious. But since I started sewing again for Suzan and myself and having Stonemountain and Daughter Fabric at my disposal, I care more about what I wear these days, especially for the end of our journey with a 4 or 5 day stay in Paris!  

My dilemma could also be an age thing: wanting to look the best I can without looking like I think I'm 20 again. Planning a travel wardrobe does present some inherent problems as I'm not willing to look like a tourist and I can't take my whole closet either.

Me in Croatia - I'm thinking flip flops might not work in Paris....

My travel fashion goal is to make some things that will be comfortable, easy to care for and yet be fashion forward and age appropriate.  Tall order, huh. I thought it might be useful to check out the Spring/Summer collections from Paris Fashion Week. Though I can't see myself trotting around the streets in 5 inch heels, I can consider some of the major trends from the Greats in fashion design when I start my fabric and accessory shopping.

1) All thing BLUE...lapis, cobalt, etc. Seems to be a trendy color along with

2) All things NEUTRAL...beige, off white, creamy stuff...and drapey...so knits must be in order?

3) Soft whimsical prints, in the colors of Provence...maybe a soft flowy skirt?

4) Choker necklaces...not the long bangle styles any more.  Big gobby necklaces and shorter, hug the neck styles - Hey, those I have!!

5) High waisted bottoms - pants, skirts, shorts (though these legs will never see the light of day in Paris)

6) Bold Hand painted prints - artsy prints??? 

7) Pleats...

8) Boyfriend shirts and zippered jackets...

I think most of the trends are doable...the trick is to get fabrics that pack easily, can be rinsed out, and travel iron friendly. I tend to pack too much, so this year I want to be smarter about what I take. 

And that whole handbag thing? It's is a dilemma all it's own. 

Are you ready to help me, Suzan?

Laurel

"Je suis une femme.." (my limited French..."like that isn't already apparent, lady?")

1980 something...

In the process of putting away our Christmas decorations, Dave uncovered an envelope on the garage floor behind a storage box.  In it were a series of photographs of my going-away party at Kelly Services, where I was an Account Rep for two years back in the 80's. There was a old letter from the Detroit office, thanking me for my service and a card holder with one of my old business cards denoting me as an "Ex-Account Representative."

I had to laugh at the silliness of it all, as my boss's significant other had hired a "Policeman" to come to arrest me at the party. You know the rest of the story...the guy had a beautiful tan!! But what cracked me up more was the horrid kinky permed hair I was sporting at the time. And I mean horrid! My daughter, who is my hairdresser today told me once that she would NEVER give me a perm, and now I remember why....so NO pictures of that fright on this post!

But I also uncovered another photo of myself that brought on a wave of nostalgia. I remembered the evening well. I was volunteering on a phone bank, evidently some time after the perm job grew out.  I was a single Mom, as Dave and I weren't even married yet, making the photo over 30 years old. I remember wearing that gold Coke bottle cap charm around my neck every day, along with a giant cubic zirconium. The silk blouse was a staple of my professional wardrobe. I still have that huge gold chain necklace which I bought at I. Magnins back in 1969. Not so much into gold chains these days, but the quality of gold-filled jewelry today can never compare to it, so I kept it.

The photo made me smile...not because I looked "hot", but because I looked so young. Shortly thereafter, Dave and I got married and settled into the whole chaotic "step-family" life. It was gritty and sweet at the same time - I've always said that it was our ability to laugh at ourselves that saved us...this August we will celebrate 30 years of marriage. 

He told me over breakfast yesterday, New Year's Day, that I was his "longest running success"...or something like that:) I think it's the red nails...

Laurel. It's gonna be a great year!!