Feeling Creative

A few days ago I wrote about my addiction to Pintrest and how awesome it is but this site is changing my life. All of a sudden I have this immense amount of information and images of projects and parties and design and decorating and architecture and style and just color and texture. And with it comes this extremely effective way to organize all this information and keep track of these things with very little effort. I'm feeling so inspired in regards to everything. I want to make stationery, throw endless parties, paint, wear my hair in something other than a messy bun, I want to design a whole entire house and decorate every single corner of it. I want to visit Spain and Greece and Italy. And I all of a sudden have such a passion for all of these things.

If I were the kind of person who flit from thing to thing I would feel excited right now but also know this was likely a phase. Instead I feel a genuine change happening. Trust me, I realize how silly this sounds, but I'm starting to picture myself gardening or buying a house or...building things. It's crazy.

These are some of the things inspiring me right now but really, it's just a tip of the iceberg.

The Super Simple 5 Product Make Up Routine

I'm such a product junkie. The thing is I love to look at all the makeup in the store and play with it and buy it and bring it home and look at it some more but when it's 7:30am and I can either sleep an extra 15 minutes or be Barbie I choose sleep every time. Back when I was in high school I'd wake up early and actually do my hair and makeup and think about what I wanted to wear but in grown up land that's just not how I roll. Usually I braid a couple small braids in my hair, put the whole thing up in a messy bun, throw on something to wear, which only ends up being fabulous most of the time simply because I have a really fantastic collection of clothes, then I do my makeup in the car (calm down, it's at stop lights...most of the time). Which is why I am on the constant quest for the most simple makeup routine with the least number of products involved. And I think I've reached a new high.

So I guess if you include moisturizers this is actually a 7 product routine but that's skincare so it doesn't count right? Regardless I'm so in love with my moisturizers I would marry them so I wanted to share. I use Bobbi Brown's Hydrating Gel Cream for my whole face. I tend to get too oily if I use heavy moisturizers and even though I probably shouldn't admit this I don't wash my face with cleanser as often as I should. In the mornings I usually just use hot water. I'm no aesthetician but I am fairly certain this keeps my skin from being too dry which means that I don't need to use a lot of moisturizer. Gels are my friend when it comes to my face. Unfortunately I am totally old now so I have to use under eye cream. This is a bit heavier than my moisturizer but works for me. I can also notice a definite difference when I start slacking and not using this daily. Also by Bobbi this one is her hydrating eye cream. She's obviously super creative at naming her products.


Then the real fun begins. My super special five step patented (not really) beauty routine includes foundation, concealer, luminizer, mascara, and the lip application of your choice. For skin I use Bobbi Brown's Skin Foundation (I'm not kidding, that's it's actual name) and her creamy concealer. I like coverage without feeling like I'm wearing stage makeup so these two products work well for me.


Next up is luminizer which is like the unicorn of the makeup world. It's so incredibly magical. A unicorn is really just a horse with a horn and lumizer is really just sparkles with some color but somehow when their powers combine they become captain amazing.

I've mentioned this product before when I bought the lightest color but I loved it so much I came back for more and decided to try cutting out blush and using a luminizer in a tone similar to the blushes I like instead. Which was obviously genius of me. The thing about this product is it's fairly unique. Most highlighters or luminizers have very little to no color and are either very light or very brown depending on what skin tone you are shopping for. And blush is awesome but it's hard to find a really gorgeous blush with shimmer rather than glitter, and really, if you're older than twelve you're too old for glitter on your cheeks. But Nars has taken the best of both worlds and created a gel/liquid luminizer with enough shimmer and pretty to be a highlighter but enough color to work as blush as well. I bought the color "orgasm" which is a different take on their most popular blush color but as you can see it comes in a few other tones too. I hope they realize how great this product is and expand the spectrum.


After that is a quick pinch with an eyelash curler and some mascara. I started using Diorshow Blackout a few years ago and haven't looked back. It's pricey but if you pay attention to Nordstrom Sales a few times a year they do a buy two get one free mascara promo. It applies to all mascaras so you can pick up whatever you like as long as they're within the same brand. And mascara keeps forever as long as you don't open it and let air in (that's when it starts drying out). I tend to stock up a couple times a year and I'm good.

After that you can do whatever with your lips. My most favorite lip product in the entire world is Dior's Dior Addict Lipstick. I've written about it before so I won't bore you with my lipstick love but it's basically a lipstick that goes on like part chapstick/part gloss. You don't have to be careful about it bleeding or even look in a mirror to apply it but it has the color of a lipstick. Best of both worlds right here. Plus it comes in about 8 billion awesome colors.


UPDATE: About where to apply the luminizer, I apply it to my cheeks and up towards my temples because I am not super into the dewy look. I don't trust myself to not creep into shiny/Edward Cullen in the sun territory. Kind of the rule at least with powdered highlighters is to brush them on your cheeks, across your brow bone, down your nose, and on your chin...all the places the sun would most hit. Maybe it works but I don't feel the need to have a shimmery chin so I stick to my cheeks. One of my friends who came to the cabin with me though was super intrigued by this stuff and wanted to try it out. She used the lighter color on all those places on her face after I explained to her that's what you're "supposed" to do but I don't and she looked fine. She's also quite a bit darker than I am (as is everyone with the exception of albinos) though so that may have made a difference.

I just realized how uninformative that whole paragraph is but that's all I've got.

Inspiration

I'm back!

It's been forever since I've written anything. I think partly because I have so much to write I don't know where to begin. I want to write about my vacation and birthday but I just downloaded the photos from my camera and at first glance it was a tad overwhelming. I need to get my thoughts together on that one. I will say it was amazing though.

Even though I don't have super exciting birthday news for you today I do have super exciting new obsession news. Pinterest. I know some of you have it because we follow each other but for those of you who don't...get it. And let's be friends. The whole thing looks a bit overwhelming at first glance but it basically comes down to being virtual inspiration boards/a way to organize images and information online. You "pin" things from around the web to any number of boards you create. You can also pin things that other people have posted so it becomes a great way to inspire each other as well. Check it out...

Pinterest

Me on Pinterest

Enjoy!

What I'm Wearing Today

Out With the Old

You may have noticed the new color scheme going on today. I decided it was time for something a little more "summer fun" and a little less "makes me want to cozy up with a cup of cocoa" around here. I usually like colors that are a little darker because I think it's easier on the eyes, but I tried about 800 colors and landed on this. If anyone finds this extraordinarily difficult to look at let me know.

Back to Brunette

I once said I would never die my hair blonde again. And then I did. I've also done this with cutting my hair short and dying my hair from a box. Sometimes you just have to make the same mistake twice.

But I learned my lesson. I'm not a blonde girl. It's fun but fidning the right blonde is like a never ending quest and I just don't have time for the adventure. And I don't like having a stripe of roots down my head every month. It was impulsive but I decided to dye my hair back dark. I thought my hair guy was going to be grumpy since we just got it light but he was fine and started his thing. Miss Tova came with me and we were chatting the whole time and it wasn't until he started applying color that I noticed he was using two different colors, one on the under side and one on the top part. I trust him tons so I didn't really worry about it or ask too much. And when he was done I ended up with an awesome ombre effect. I love it.

What I'm Wearing Today

There's sun today so even though the high is 52 degrees Fahrenheit I'm rockin' shorts. And color.

From the tips of my fingers...

Remember four months ago when Lady Gaga made "greige" happen on the September cover of Vanity Fair? Well someone should totally get me a magazine cover because I'm about to make beigrarple happen.

I bought this color, Muggins by Butter London, back in August and am just now getting around to wearing it. It's sort of a tan/gray/lavender color, it looks way more purple in the photo with flash than it does in real life. I'm pretty sure it's a new favorite though. I could probably use some cuticle oil too.



Also I think Day 3 of the photo month ("post a photo of the cast of your favorite show") is really stupid so I'm not doing it. My nails are probably more fun to look at anyways. If anyone cares I like Gossip Girl.

Problem (possibly) Solved

Perhaps it says something about me that I don't even move for another four days yet I have spent hours online looking at rugs to buy, rugs to make, rugs to alter...I even tried to find a place to rent a loom. Seriously. I've made it my mission to have a not-boring rug that doesn't drain my bank account and I will stop at nothing.

Originally I posted about the possibility of dying or screenprinting a rug. And those were options that were definitely in the running. Eventually though I decided that although I had confidence I could successfully lighten a rug and dye it somehow I wasn't sure I could do it in a way that would keep the dye from wearing off on people's feet/socks/shoes. I still contemplated the screenprinting idea but in the back of my mind I kept thinking about how little I liked the idea of using a flat woven rug.

Then I saw this entry on Apartment Therapy about using smaller (and thereby less expensive) rugs to create a larger one by sewing them together. I didn't much care for it at the time and I thought it looked sort of cheap. I knew I could do it but I didn't have much interest. Not too far after that though this was posted and I realized this idea could be done in a cool way. Like so:



So I now my focus became finding a small rug I could get multiple of and sew together.

My first thought was in regards to size. Usually the smallest size rug is around 2'x3'. I decided if I used nine rugs I could create a 6'x9' rug which would be a pretty good size. Then I started thinking about pattern. I knew solid rugs were out because if I wanted a solid rug I would have just bought one at IKEA and I also didn't really like the look of the visible stitching. For me the idea was to create something that looked like one large rug rather than a bunch put together although I can understand how some people might actively try to achieve a patchwork look.

I've bought some small rugs from Urban Outfitters in the past and they've exceeded my expectations. They have a lot of really fun patterns and colors and the prices are extremely reasonable. Also, they have a really great policy of taking anything bought online back in store so I figured if I ordered nine rugs that turned out to be awful I could easily return them without having to ship them back. And I would have to buy online because no store was going to have nine of the same rug for me. So that's where I began my search.

Since the whole point of this adventure was to not spend a ton of money and still get something awesome out of it I started off by sorting the rugs available by price, knowing I would need to be sticking near the top of that list. These are some of the rugs I liked best:





The first rug I realized wouldn't work because of the tufted edges. No matter how I did it there would be these weird random puffs. There will be more from that rug later though.

The next rug is adorable and I love the colors but I don't think this project is really meant to be done with this kind of print. There's just no way to make it work and not look stupid.

The last rug though was perfect. There are tufts on the edges but there are also tufts in the rug itself so I'm fairly certain when stitched together this won't look crazy. The pattern is a little Arizona motel for me but since the rest of my furniture is a lot more modern and I love the colors in the rug I think it will be okay.

That first rug that obviously wouldn't have worked for an area rug is really pretty. If you look at the close up there are some great colors in there. I wanted to do something with it but I don't really need anymore 2'x3' rugs. Then I remembered that I am acquiring an awesome hallway that's actually big enough to be an entry way of sorts and I'm pretty sure that hallway could use a runner.

It may take me awhile but expect pictures of these projects both in progress and when finished. Also photos of the new place will be here Wednesday!

Technicolor Love

Miss Lana and I went out to breakfast and manicures the other day. While getting our nails done we were talking about decorating my apartment. While we were talking I confessed that I had realized while looking at furniture online that I am willing to pay way more for a purse than I am say, an armchair. And, luckily, she agreed. Which kept me from feeling like a crazy person. But this brings me to the topic of rugs.

Rugs are expensive. It's as simple as that. I don't think there's really any getting around it. And when you are looking for something other than a traditional Persian looking rug things get even more expensive.

After looking around a lot I had found one rug I liked. I figure I'll need something at least 5'x7' so spending less than $500 was looking less and less possible. Until I stumbled upon these.







These rugs are by a company called ABC Carpet and Home. As far as I understand, these rugs are worn vintage rugs that are somewhat bleached out then over dyed. I think they're gorgeous and would love to have one in my home. Here's the problem, the least expensive of these rugs is 3'x4'7", orange with a house (?) drawn on it, and $900. So in other words, buying one of these is not going to happen. But I mean, how hard could bleaching a rug and dying it be?

Apparently really ridiculously difficult. Check out comment number two.

Now I know I'm stubborn but I still feel compelled to try it. I figure I can buy a rug at IKEA for under $100, bleach/oxyclean/something it to lighten the color, then figure out a way to redeposit color. Perfection is not the goal here so it doesn't really matter if there are flaws. I know dye needs heat to set so maybe I can hand apply dye diluted in hot water? Use a blow dryer to set it? Ideas? Advice? Warnings that I may or may not head?

My other idea which is significantly more simple yet also less awesome is to get a low pile rug from IKEA and use silkscreen ink to basically just paint a design onto it. Silkscreen ink doesn't move unless it's washed without being heat set first. With most fabrics you can just throw whatever was silkscreened into the dryer after the ink dries to set it. With a rug I'm pretty sure sitting on the floor and blow drying the rug would work well enough. If I went this route I'd basically have two options, free hand paint a design with a brush or create a stencil and use a brush or roller to apply the ink. I think this idea would look best on a neutral rug, I'm thinking a darker gray, with a design in multiple colors. For that reason I don't want to use an actual silkscreen. The process just becomes too difficult when using too many colors.

If I went this route I'd likely end up with something along these lines.







What do you think? Take on the crazy difficult project with a hopefully amazing outcome or go the safe route?