-I voted yesterday and it was superb.
-My consultation with Landis is tomorrow, can't wait for it.
-I am going overtime this week (like 3rd week in a row)
-We are short-staffed at work (hence above sentence)
-Two interviews scheduled next week, plus two other almost-sure-hires coming soon
-Apartment was freezing last night; heater stopped working AGAIN
-Electrician supposedly coming today to fix it (AGAIN)
-Have watched The Fall almost 10 times since renting it; soooo good.
-McKay (Spencer's younger brother) was set apart as a full-time missionary yesterday
-Much crying ensued (tears of joy!... mostly)
-That makes 3 Holts having left home in the last 4 months (Spencer marrying me, Rachel's mish and now McKay's)
-NEW PUSHING DAISIES TONIGHT! (not that I get to watch D: )
-Have resolved to search for my sewing machine's zipper foot and try out a new skirt pattern I've been thinking about
-I seem to be developing the illness that Spencer has had for the last week and a half.
-Hopefully this Zicam can help... so far it doesn't look great ):
-oh yeah, and it's been SNOWING all day!
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Quickly Quilting
As I may have mentioned before, I have quilting on the brain.
It happened shortly after my birthday, when my mother-in-law gave me a book on home decor on the cheap. It's actually kind of really awesome. There are some great up-to-date DIY projects, and some examples of some really gorgeous bathrooms, living rooms, bedrooms and kitchens.
My only criticism of the book is that unless it's suggesting Ikea or a thrift shop, it's not decorating on the cheap. It's decorating on the "holy crap they commissioned a stand-alone chimney to be built outside their house" expensive. And even their idea of "second hand" is expensive, with examples of second hand purchases that were "steals" being
-a $500 dollar headboard,
-a (very ugly) lamp at $400,
-getting a plain red roll of carpent for cheap but then paying a few thousand to have it custom-trimmed and finished to be shaped like a gigantic pool of blood (although that's a pretty cool idea, especially since the carpet spills down a case of stairs and pools out on the lower landing...)
-or buying a couch second hand for $150, but then dropping $2,000 to have it fitted with Lucite legs.
Yeah. That's just to name a few expensive things-- and those were only the examples of the "cheap" details.
Oh and also, they're not actually "thrifting." It may be second-hand, but honey, you are ANTIQUING. There's a difference.
In any case, there was a picture of the room that took homey-quilting to the extreme, and while this one blanket wasn't particularly mentioned and probably wasn't meant to be the focal point of the photo, it jumped out at me: a tied quilt pieced up of hexagons.
So simple and so attractive, I wanted one that INSTANT.
I like tied quilts a lot too, they have a more hand-made homey feel to me than the ones you pay someone else to sew all over with those gigantic free form sewing machines to hold the batting in place or just to embellish.
Tied quilt, by the way, are quilts that, when the top piece and back piece and batting are all sewing together, have yarn or thick string tied in little knots every few inches or so.
The idea was also attractive to me because I collect a lot of scrap fabric from the D.I. and other thrift shops. So I have a lot of pieces of fabric that are precut at odd shapes or lengths, pieces that have both limited and infinite potential. This gave me an opportunity to use all those fabrics, albeit, at least one hexagon from each.
Kind of what I'm making only not...
And the final reason I decided to make the hexagon quilt was that I also collect clothes and consistently do not wear them. I love clothes. I love their fabrics, their prints, or they have sentimental value and even though I haven't fit into it for years (some hoodies and shirts I've kept since I was 12 or even 9). In this case, I would take one hexagon from the garment and scrap the rest. Many shirts with Black Chandelier prints will be featured, so much so that I am a little bit afraid that people will just identify it as my Black Chandelier quilt, which, I guess, is fine too.
The choice to do hexagons with my scrapped tees also has an artistic factor. I like the idea of putting shirts you like but don't wear anymore into something else to give its function back, but when I looked at other peoples examples of tee-shirt quilts, I thought they were really ugly. It wasn't like they were trying to take the thing they liked about the tee-shirt and make it into a quilt, it was more like they were making a quilt that looked like it was made from a tee shirt, you know?
Like this. This is ugly.
Anyway, I am seeing hexagons everywhere. I didn't even make the connection that the Black Chandelier logo is a black chandelier WITH A HEXAGON AROUND IT. Great. Even more imagery to enforce a "black chandelieriness" with the quilt. Also, there are hexagons covering a wall at Spencer's work.
Once I get this quilt done, and my rosette-thing for my mom and any other quilting ideas I have for the holiday season, I'll probably ease up with the quilting and move on to other projects. I do this a lot.
I've been obsessed with writing once in a few years, joined a literary magazine and carried a writing notebook with me. I "gesso'd" Masonite boards and painted things. Or at least I planned to. I went CRAZY with charcoal and pastel drawings. I love them. I also got way into pottery and sculpture. I'm not so great with a kick wheel but a couple of my sculptures are still in my high school teachers office on display.
I've crocheted for days, making mini-scarves and cozies for just about anything, apples, water bottles, iPod cases, cats. Altering tees for friends (I need a serger before I do anymore tee altering though; no more ripped armpits.)
Now it's quilting, and it's really fun. I was afraid I wouldn't finish this quilt... I like to get into stuff, projects, hobbies, and while a few of these infatuations produce some great work, a lot of the time it also produces some great but unfinished work. But it's coming along pretty quickly, even with my mother-in-law warning me that a hexagon quilt has no real short-cuts and may take awhile to piece.
This isn't to say it hasn't had some set-backs. A lot of the pieces I'm memorializing are screen-printed, which means they absolutely cannot be ironed! Which also means I can't press some of the seams down, which makes for a funky sitting block.
Also, I have never actually quilted before. Every. Well wait. There was this one time in the 4th grade where we all quilted pot-holders for our parents, and I sent my to my dad and I haven't really seen it since. I think I did ok with it, but it was all hand-done and square, SO... Not really the same here.
I will post pictures of the progress I've made tonight, if I can find Spencer's camera. If not I'll try to get some O.K. pictures with my phone. Sound good? Good.
It happened shortly after my birthday, when my mother-in-law gave me a book on home decor on the cheap. It's actually kind of really awesome. There are some great up-to-date DIY projects, and some examples of some really gorgeous bathrooms, living rooms, bedrooms and kitchens.
My only criticism of the book is that unless it's suggesting Ikea or a thrift shop, it's not decorating on the cheap. It's decorating on the "holy crap they commissioned a stand-alone chimney to be built outside their house" expensive. And even their idea of "second hand" is expensive, with examples of second hand purchases that were "steals" being
-a $500 dollar headboard,
-a (very ugly) lamp at $400,
-getting a plain red roll of carpent for cheap but then paying a few thousand to have it custom-trimmed and finished to be shaped like a gigantic pool of blood (although that's a pretty cool idea, especially since the carpet spills down a case of stairs and pools out on the lower landing...)
-or buying a couch second hand for $150, but then dropping $2,000 to have it fitted with Lucite legs.
Yeah. That's just to name a few expensive things-- and those were only the examples of the "cheap" details.
Oh and also, they're not actually "thrifting." It may be second-hand, but honey, you are ANTIQUING. There's a difference.
In any case, there was a picture of the room that took homey-quilting to the extreme, and while this one blanket wasn't particularly mentioned and probably wasn't meant to be the focal point of the photo, it jumped out at me: a tied quilt pieced up of hexagons.
So simple and so attractive, I wanted one that INSTANT.
I like tied quilts a lot too, they have a more hand-made homey feel to me than the ones you pay someone else to sew all over with those gigantic free form sewing machines to hold the batting in place or just to embellish.
Tied quilt, by the way, are quilts that, when the top piece and back piece and batting are all sewing together, have yarn or thick string tied in little knots every few inches or so.
The idea was also attractive to me because I collect a lot of scrap fabric from the D.I. and other thrift shops. So I have a lot of pieces of fabric that are precut at odd shapes or lengths, pieces that have both limited and infinite potential. This gave me an opportunity to use all those fabrics, albeit, at least one hexagon from each.
Kind of what I'm making only not...
And the final reason I decided to make the hexagon quilt was that I also collect clothes and consistently do not wear them. I love clothes. I love their fabrics, their prints, or they have sentimental value and even though I haven't fit into it for years (some hoodies and shirts I've kept since I was 12 or even 9). In this case, I would take one hexagon from the garment and scrap the rest. Many shirts with Black Chandelier prints will be featured, so much so that I am a little bit afraid that people will just identify it as my Black Chandelier quilt, which, I guess, is fine too.
The choice to do hexagons with my scrapped tees also has an artistic factor. I like the idea of putting shirts you like but don't wear anymore into something else to give its function back, but when I looked at other peoples examples of tee-shirt quilts, I thought they were really ugly. It wasn't like they were trying to take the thing they liked about the tee-shirt and make it into a quilt, it was more like they were making a quilt that looked like it was made from a tee shirt, you know?
Like this. This is ugly.
Anyway, I am seeing hexagons everywhere. I didn't even make the connection that the Black Chandelier logo is a black chandelier WITH A HEXAGON AROUND IT. Great. Even more imagery to enforce a "black chandelieriness" with the quilt. Also, there are hexagons covering a wall at Spencer's work.
Once I get this quilt done, and my rosette-thing for my mom and any other quilting ideas I have for the holiday season, I'll probably ease up with the quilting and move on to other projects. I do this a lot.
I've been obsessed with writing once in a few years, joined a literary magazine and carried a writing notebook with me. I "gesso'd" Masonite boards and painted things. Or at least I planned to. I went CRAZY with charcoal and pastel drawings. I love them. I also got way into pottery and sculpture. I'm not so great with a kick wheel but a couple of my sculptures are still in my high school teachers office on display.
I've crocheted for days, making mini-scarves and cozies for just about anything, apples, water bottles, iPod cases, cats. Altering tees for friends (I need a serger before I do anymore tee altering though; no more ripped armpits.)
Now it's quilting, and it's really fun. I was afraid I wouldn't finish this quilt... I like to get into stuff, projects, hobbies, and while a few of these infatuations produce some great work, a lot of the time it also produces some great but unfinished work. But it's coming along pretty quickly, even with my mother-in-law warning me that a hexagon quilt has no real short-cuts and may take awhile to piece.
This isn't to say it hasn't had some set-backs. A lot of the pieces I'm memorializing are screen-printed, which means they absolutely cannot be ironed! Which also means I can't press some of the seams down, which makes for a funky sitting block.
Also, I have never actually quilted before. Every. Well wait. There was this one time in the 4th grade where we all quilted pot-holders for our parents, and I sent my to my dad and I haven't really seen it since. I think I did ok with it, but it was all hand-done and square, SO... Not really the same here.
I will post pictures of the progress I've made tonight, if I can find Spencer's camera. If not I'll try to get some O.K. pictures with my phone. Sound good? Good.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Oh, just one more!
An elderly homeless lady came in with one of our $5 dollar shirts, asking to buy it, but also complaining to me that I was taking away her whiskey-money. "What is going on with kids today, hmm? What is with this shirt? Only 5 dollars though? I'll take it, I like to smell clean sometimes. Aw, shoot it'll be all my whiskey-money though. You're killing me!"
WTF?
WTF?
Quickie
I love (clothing) fashion, obviously, I work at a small, local, humble fashion boutique and the majority of the blogs I visit are fashion-oriented, or have a fashion feature. But after awhile you see the same things coming from www.slcpomp.com or even the weekly street fashion round-up at www.threadbanger.com which is why I'm glad I stumbled on this little website: a fashion blog showcasing the impeccable style of the elderly, www.advancedstyle.blogspot.com
P.S. sorry about the lack of html, I am SO not snazzy or dedicated today.
P.S. sorry about the lack of html, I am SO not snazzy or dedicated today.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Copying Karlie
Her list method is succinct and effective. And since it's been longer than I'd hoped between my posts, I'm going to try and get all the build up out of the way by adopting her method.
-Recently took an interest in quilting, first to get rid of colorful scraps that I can't bear to part with, now I'm thinking of Christmas gifts... a Rosette/yo-yo wall hanging for mom, a simple and similar throw quilt for my brother and Karlie.
-My interest in quilts has somewhat over-excited my mother-in-law who also loves quilting, albeit, traditional quilting where as I am more interested in... alternative forms.
-Moved into a new apartment! This one is roomier, even though it's a 1 bedroom instead of a 2 bedroom, and has far greater views and neighbors than the last one.
-Also it is down the street from the U and coincidentally, Karlie.
-I may be biting off more than I can chew with all this quilting business, but hey, when do I not bite off more than I can chew?
-Stayed over at the in-laws on Saturday night, decidedly weird and will not be repeating that unless it's Christmas or something (and even then... probably not.) Although it was fun to hang out with Spencer and his siblings... Awkward Sunday Dinner Laughing Fits occurred after there were strangely expressed comments about the flavor of the chicken... breasts... I mean thighs.
-Black Chandelier received a letter, a "notice of default" which could mean the end of us, although Richard (the president) is taking it all in as if it were nothing.
-Watched "Secretary" with Spencer last night... a secret favorite although I don't think he enjoyed it nearly as much as me. I don't remember the score being so... bad. Same guy who scored Twin Peaks if that tells you anything. I also forgot how much I love James Spader's performance, as well as Maggie Gyllenhaal. Fantastic. Shivers.
-At work, kind of not working (I at least took care of refolds and whatnot before slacking off) and this will probably be the only place I update at least until the internet finally switches over in the new apartment.
-Oh oh, also saw the Pushing Daisies Season 2 premier, still as enjoyable to watch as ever, with strange plot set-ups for the season to come. Strange. But looking forward to watching them unfold.
-Pictures of quilt progress (when some is truly made) to come!
-Recently took an interest in quilting, first to get rid of colorful scraps that I can't bear to part with, now I'm thinking of Christmas gifts... a Rosette/yo-yo wall hanging for mom, a simple and similar throw quilt for my brother and Karlie.
-My interest in quilts has somewhat over-excited my mother-in-law who also loves quilting, albeit, traditional quilting where as I am more interested in... alternative forms.
-Moved into a new apartment! This one is roomier, even though it's a 1 bedroom instead of a 2 bedroom, and has far greater views and neighbors than the last one.
-Also it is down the street from the U and coincidentally, Karlie.
-I may be biting off more than I can chew with all this quilting business, but hey, when do I not bite off more than I can chew?
-Stayed over at the in-laws on Saturday night, decidedly weird and will not be repeating that unless it's Christmas or something (and even then... probably not.) Although it was fun to hang out with Spencer and his siblings... Awkward Sunday Dinner Laughing Fits occurred after there were strangely expressed comments about the flavor of the chicken... breasts... I mean thighs.
-Black Chandelier received a letter, a "notice of default" which could mean the end of us, although Richard (the president) is taking it all in as if it were nothing.
-Watched "Secretary" with Spencer last night... a secret favorite although I don't think he enjoyed it nearly as much as me. I don't remember the score being so... bad. Same guy who scored Twin Peaks if that tells you anything. I also forgot how much I love James Spader's performance, as well as Maggie Gyllenhaal. Fantastic. Shivers.
-At work, kind of not working (I at least took care of refolds and whatnot before slacking off) and this will probably be the only place I update at least until the internet finally switches over in the new apartment.
-Oh oh, also saw the Pushing Daisies Season 2 premier, still as enjoyable to watch as ever, with strange plot set-ups for the season to come. Strange. But looking forward to watching them unfold.
-Pictures of quilt progress (when some is truly made) to come!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Okay okay okay.
Post. Posting posts for post.
Well not really a ton of interesting stuff is happening in my life right now except WAIT.
The Ghost of Jared Gold.
So Once Upon A Time, Jared Gold was still the designer of the store I currently manage, Black Chandelier, and he was designing his 2007 fall/winter line "Caspian." Something we were doing differently this time though, was outsourcing a small company in New Delhi to "mass" produce the line in time for the debut show and have lovely clothes in the store the next day.
So they worked with each other, sending samples and prototypes of garments, color ways and styles, and soon came up with a finished line-- we even had one of our graphic designers create a pattern to print on a fabric en masse and seamlessly instead of the usual screen-print.
But then we couldn't afford to actually buy the finished line.
Fast-forward nearly 1 year and a half later...
And the India shipment is here!
Jared has left the company for months and yet!
It's glorious.
And by glorious I mean a much-needed breath of fresh air in this store. With the lack of product, not to mention motivation for sales, this line is one of my favorites and I'm only sad that Jared isn't here to see how well it's doing, even with it only being straight-out-of-the-box. (Jared is notorious for adding more and more and more and MORE to a garment before putting it out of the floor. There's no doubt he'd have screen-printed and embellished almost every one of these cardigans or shirts before putting them out.)
And the best (and worst) part of it all is that there is TONS of products. Boxes and boxes and boxes. The good thing about it is that I can take my time accumulating what I want of the line... Sizes aren't about to run out anytime soon.
Also, it will carry us till Christmas. But that's also the bad part, it may carry past Christmas, and through next summer and eventually to the 75% off shelf, as almost everything here does.
But Danny and I have been trying to price these clothes in such a way that people won't be waiting for the garment to go on sale. Not a single shirt is over $28 and if you think that's expensive, you wouldn't have wanted to shop with us this time last year!
Anyways, the line is great, I'm gonna buy it all (yay employee allowance!) blah blah blah there's my post.
Well not really a ton of interesting stuff is happening in my life right now except WAIT.
The Ghost of Jared Gold.
So Once Upon A Time, Jared Gold was still the designer of the store I currently manage, Black Chandelier, and he was designing his 2007 fall/winter line "Caspian." Something we were doing differently this time though, was outsourcing a small company in New Delhi to "mass" produce the line in time for the debut show and have lovely clothes in the store the next day.
So they worked with each other, sending samples and prototypes of garments, color ways and styles, and soon came up with a finished line-- we even had one of our graphic designers create a pattern to print on a fabric en masse and seamlessly instead of the usual screen-print.
But then we couldn't afford to actually buy the finished line.
Fast-forward nearly 1 year and a half later...
And the India shipment is here!
Jared has left the company for months and yet!
It's glorious.
And by glorious I mean a much-needed breath of fresh air in this store. With the lack of product, not to mention motivation for sales, this line is one of my favorites and I'm only sad that Jared isn't here to see how well it's doing, even with it only being straight-out-of-the-box. (Jared is notorious for adding more and more and more and MORE to a garment before putting it out of the floor. There's no doubt he'd have screen-printed and embellished almost every one of these cardigans or shirts before putting them out.)
And the best (and worst) part of it all is that there is TONS of products. Boxes and boxes and boxes. The good thing about it is that I can take my time accumulating what I want of the line... Sizes aren't about to run out anytime soon.
Also, it will carry us till Christmas. But that's also the bad part, it may carry past Christmas, and through next summer and eventually to the 75% off shelf, as almost everything here does.
But Danny and I have been trying to price these clothes in such a way that people won't be waiting for the garment to go on sale. Not a single shirt is over $28 and if you think that's expensive, you wouldn't have wanted to shop with us this time last year!
Anyways, the line is great, I'm gonna buy it all (yay employee allowance!) blah blah blah there's my post.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Huzzah!
Instead of whining about how my husband wasn't setting a blog up for me, I did it at work by myself!
So here it is! Now I'm gonna get back to work, more updates to come.
So here it is! Now I'm gonna get back to work, more updates to come.
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