I'm leaving to Savannah today for a little over a week to take care of some of my thesis stuff and take some exit exams. I'll be taking a break for a couple weeks to get all my stuff done, in the meantime, here is some vintage eye candy.
Ah, how I love 1930s style so...Click images for larger.
If you are keen on vintage clothing catalogs "juffrouwjo" has scanned in pretty much the entire 1938 Sears & Roebuck spring/summer catalog. Check it out.
I really love my office and the light it gets, but right now, I'm quite sick of it. Oh, I can't wait until I'm finished with my papers and this quarter is done with - it's been a tough one. Yay for grad school.
I've been taking the first days of the year in relaxation, baking, knitting and reading. I'm hoping to store up this calm feeling so as to have extra for when classes start again. I'm not sure if it really works that way, but there is no harm in trying. I'm leaving to Savannah today to begin my last quarter of coursework. Its exciting and scary all at the same time. Finishing my courses means I'm closer to completing my masters, but it also signals the beginning of many qualifying exams I need to pass within my department as well as the commencement of my thesis. I've already started putting together my committee and hope to have them solidified by the end of this month.
I'm not one to have new year resolutions, but I do set goals for myself. Most of the ones I have are extensions of life changes I have been attempting since a few months ago, but I would like to add some big, pie-in-the-sky goals to my list. For those who would like to do the same, but are not sure how to, check out Gala's post on how to set amazing goals.
(Photo is of Orange Chocolate Cupcakes I made from the recipe in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.)
It's been a stressful week, but I finally get to relax today. My "me" time technically started last night. A friend and I went to see David Sedaris, who read some previously published work as well as some short stories he is working on for his new book. We were cracking our asses off. It was such a great time and I will be anticipating the release of his new book in June. He just kicked off his tour, so check out his schedule to see if he'll be coming near you.
My weekend will be full of researching and writing, but I'm one of those nerds who enjoy such things. But today I'm going to be taking a break from school work and 16 Sparrows work and am just going to relax. It seems as if the weather is agreeing with my sentiment as it has dropped from the frightful 90 degrees it has been to a lovely 70 degrees. My friends and I are going to celebrate the final arrival of Fall by eating some southern cooking in the great outdoors.
Since the first few days of classes are not so hectic, I took the time to clean and reorganize my office. The biggest accomplishment is that I finally set-up my drafting table. Well, it was set-up, per-say, but it was covered in junk and unusable. This accumulation of junk was enabled by the fact that it is the second desk I have in my office. The other being the one housing my computer and is where I do the chief of my work. (Do not assume, because I have two desks in my office space that it is a large room. Oh no, quite the contrary. It is a shoe box of a thing with all my stuff crammed in.) But, the stockpile of crap that was collecting on this secondary desk was just getting on my freakin' nerves. So, I rolled up my sleeves and cleared and trashed and re-purposed. The whole process was very gratifying.
Prior to returning to Savannah I knew I would have little time for crafty endeavors while back in school, so I left my sewing machine and such in Chicago. Rather than my drafting table being my craft area, as it normally is, it has turned into my letter writing and packaging center. So if you get a letter or package from me, this is where is was written or assembled. Now with a clean and organized office, I have no excuse for not trying to get that article published, right? Whew, easier said than done!
With school starting again, I find myself once more purchasing supplies for my classes. This year though, I'm going to try to be more eco-friendly with my purchases. I've already found some recycled binders (also here, for a better price, me thinks) and I am purchasing writing pads made from 100% recycled materials. But the thing that has tickled my design bone to the core is this Staple-less Stapler from Greenlok.
For other office stuff, you can get 100% recycled items from almost any office supply place, but there are also super keen shops like Grassroots, Todae, Eco at Home, and The Green Office with really awesome sustainable & eco-conscious goods. For those out of the US, my favs are Todae's Biodegradable Pens, their keen envelopes and Eco at Home's paper pens. For those in the US, you can also find similar biodegratable corn pens and cute envelopes at Grassroots, without that pesky international shipping to worry about.
Enjoying the calm before classes start in a few days. I'm feeling a bit under the weather and it is tremendously hot outside, so I've just been staying inside reading, drinking tea and spazing out with the kitty. Oh, the start of school is going to hit me like a ton of bricks!
Grace, of design*sponge, held a lecture at my school on Tuesday. She presented information about starting your own business online to quite a full audience. You can see her perspective of us here (I'm one of the people sitting on the floor). Even though Donovan and I have run 16 Sparrows for close to 4 years, I learned a lot from her talk and was quite inspired. Oh, many ideas are floating through my head of which you may be seeing the product of come June. For those curious to what was said, Grace mentioned she would be uploading her Power Point presentation on her blog sometime tomorrow. So keep a look out for that.
Grace's compassion and drive behind the indie community and student design work is infectious and I am so happy there are people like her out in the design world. I am also very pleased to hear she enjoyed her stay in Savannah and was inspired by the work coming from the campus. She has put up several posts regarding all the sights from Savannah and is planning on focusing on some student work in the upcoming days. Take a look for yourself!
Only a couple more weeks left until I am released to summer and finally have time to sew and knit again. And oh dear, do I have plans!
While my vintage style normally leans toward the 40s and 50s, my friend Robyn has been slowly converting me to the 20s and 30s. Such evidence can be seen in the image above of the two of us after our weekly tea date.
I've been looking through Eva Dress for some nifty vintage patterns and for some reason I am smitten with coat patterns, even though we are in summer! Go figure.
Here are a couple I like:
Geometric Button closure, circa 1935.
Katharine Hepburn Frock, circa 1933.
I also have two of my friends getting married this year (and then a third early next year), so there are fancy dresses to consider!
Ladies Frock with Handkerchief Hem, circa 1929
Ladies Frock with train and street dress, circa 1931 (Minus the train and in a sateen cotton)
Ladies Evening Frock, circa 1934 (One of my friend's is planning on using this pattern for her wedding dress, so I would have to wear this to one of the other weddings)
And, there are some everyday patterns that also caught my eye:
Ladies wrap around skirt, circa 1944
Ladies Deco Blouse, circa 1934 (I also love the skirt on this pattern envelope!)
Ladies Dinner Dress, circa 1934
Ladies Day Dress, circa 1935 (This one may the first one I make. Perfect for summer.)
So...those should keep me busy all summer. Especially considering I haven't touched my sewing machine in...(gasp) 9 months! Oh grad school, you cramp my crafty ways.
From Peter Miller.
In other news, the symposium went really well last night. The other presentations were well-written and according to my friends, my paper and presentation was very interesting and well delivered. Thanks to everyone for you well wishes on my paper. I'm excited to take it further for my thesis.
Now I just have 3 more weeks left before I finish my first year of graduate school. I can't believe it went by so fast. Just one more year until I am up for candidacy, Eeek!
