What I Wore Today: Navy & Burnt Orange

Today, I went thrifting with Franklin. Remember what I said about him keeping me from buying stuff I don't need? Yeah. That didn't really work out today. You see, we found this thrift store less than a mile from our house, and, it was AMAZING. It's kind of hidden, and I think it's really only frequented by old ladies. The mark of a truly great thrift store, if you ask me. This is one of those places that you DO NOT tell your friends about, haha. It's our special little treasure chest, and we're keeping it a secret, heehee. We'll post up a picture later with all of the cool stuff we scored, but for now, you just get to see what I wore on our thrifting adventure:

sweater: thrifted // shirt: thrifted// shoes: minnetonka// owl brooch: stoic & pariah
leather satchel: thrifted //pants: urban outfitters (clearance!)

This is probably my favorite shirt. Which means: I never ever wear it, haha. It's like I treasure it so much, that I don't want any harm to come to it. Both the shirt and the satchel were finds during the western day sale at goodwill (from different years, haha). When it comes to my favorite outfits, there is usually a unusual, somewhat bright color in the mix. I'm always drawn toward burnt orange, mustard yellow, or kelly green. They are like, my favorite colors to wear, I think. And I'm so happy that fall is here, because all of my favorite clothes are for chilly weather! The past two days have been wonderfully grey and rainy, and I remember now, why I choose to live here :)

After taking the above outfit photos, on the way out the door, I stumbled over our mail, which contained a much-anticipated package from ANYKIND! It had two lovely lovely bows in it, and this is the one I've been sporting all day (It's my new favorite!):

I was so excited to get this in the mail today! I am seriously in love with my new bows. They feel super famous, too, 'cause one of my favorite bloggers made them! haha. (Thank you Jesse, you make such lovely things!)

And now, I am going to go have my fourth cup of coffee for today. I'm so tired - this week has wiped me out! I just started a new full-time job as a preschool teacher assistant! It's super hard work, but super fun, and every cute little smile and every little giggle I hear makes the job super worthwhile. I love it.

What I'm listening to: Montezuma by Fleet Foxes

okay, time for more coffee!
-Elizabeth

Lucky Finds: Easel & Gigantic Clipboard

I used to be like, borderline hoarder in my thrifting hey day. No... that's a lie. I definitely WAS a hoarder. I was a really organized and compulsive sort of hoarder, though, if that makes it any more socially acceptable! I've gotten better though, I swear. It super-helps to go to the thrift store with Franklin 'cause he's really good at talking me down from that ledge. He used to work at a thrift store (that's sort of where we met, unofficially) so he's really good at thrifting. He's also really picky, too, and has taught me that being good at thrifting, means being good at not buying everything that catches your fancy. Which is super hard. Unless you're perpetually broke, but that's another story.

These two things, I could not pass up. I bought them independently of each other, but they work so perfectly together! Ack, I can't believe it. A simple (but very solid) easel, and a GIGANTIC clip board!

Behold:

You can kind of see the price tag on the easel still. I was just really pleased with the price. It's like a badge of honor or something. So there it remains. Actually! That clipboard was only $2.50, because we had a 50% off coupon! Also, there's a little sneak peek at a watercolor I've been working on. I was supposed to finish it about a month ago, but I got sort of stuck on the lettering, so I've been practicing first. It's a second draft of a painting I did last year, based off my "what-a-treat!" comics. what-a-treat! are these one-panel comics about food that I started making about 5 years ago? I need to update my tumblr more often, but here's a link to some of my "what a treat!" comics: click here

Franklin should be posting an update soon, with a new song. He was supposed to do it on Monday so we could start a regular "Monday Music" post (because alliteration is awesome), but we need to re-record it because my vocals were too quiet (oops!). Expect a new (surfy) song soon, though!

-Elizabeth

Out of the Woods

I had every intention to keep this thing updated this week, but it sorta got away from me! So here's a little recap.

1. Finishing up a custom fern brooch for a dear friend
2. In the woods for a night. We forgot a vital part of our tent, but it worked out :)
3. Our good friends Justin & Cat have chickens, and these are their eggs! So pretty!

I spent the rest of the week battling migraine headaches and working on some new brooches to add to the shop! Once I finish this new batch of brooches, I'm going to completely change the look of the shop. I'm hoping I can get that all finished before the end of the month. Also, I don't know if you noticed, but I gave the ol' blog a little makeover.  The changes were small, but I like the end result. What do you guys think?

What I'm listening to: the hopeless opus by of montreal
What I'm gonna do when I'm done posting this: play minecraft with Franklin!

-Elizabeth

DIY: Colorblock Framed Messages

Yes. That is fake wood paneling stenciled onto particle board. Pretty awesome huh? haha. I can't take credit for it, though. I wish! This is a wall in our laundry room, and, it was begging for a pop of color and a little reminder for us to empty our pockets before running things through the wash. Which is a reminder we so desperately need, haha. So I made this color-block framed message out of an old thrifted frame I had laying around.

Here's a little DIY tutorial if you wanna make one, too:

1. Type something up in your favorite fonts, flip it horizontally, and print!
2. Use the print-out as a guide, and paint wherever you see negative space (everything but the letters themselves) I used about three coats of "antique white" craft paint, but you can use whatever you want! (note: because of the thickness of the glass, you'll want to look at the letters straight on as you paint, because the slightest change of angle when you view it, can skew the perspective of the letters.)
3. While that's drying, paint your frame! I used "golden yellow" and "roman stucco" for the short sides, and then mixed those colors with a bit of white for the long sides).

You can paint the glass all the way to the edge, but I kept the messy unfinished edges because I like the way it looked, and it fit the unfinished look of my laundry room, too. Do whatever looks best to you. I put some tea-stained graph paper and woodgrain contact paper inside the frame. You can use whatever you want, though - fabric, a photo, scrapbook paper, whatever. I think it'd look really cool painted to the edge, with a photo peeking through the letters. Hm, maybe I'll do that for a "home sweet home" sign, heehee. The possibilities are endless with this one. Below is a little sample of some signs I typed up for a 5x7 frame, and reversed. The links to download the reversed jpegs are below the picture.

right-click and "save as" to download:
home sweet home
check your pockets
home is where the art is
bless this mess

Have fun with it! :)

-Elizabeth

Sweeter Than Candy on a Stick

We made a video! Wanna see?



I sort of daydreamed it on the way home from work yesterday, haha. It was hard convincing Franklin to participate, but by the time we were done, he wanted to keep on dancing, haha. I'd been trying to get him to work on more videos with me, and now that he sees how easy (and fun!) it is, he'll probably be more into it. It's not so mysterious now, haha. This was my first time using a green screen, too, so that's kind of exciting. The green screen part only lasts for a few seconds, and it looks pretty bad, haha, but I kinda love how awful it looks.

Oh, and some details about the outfit: The dress is thrifted, and altered. It used to be long-sleeved and down to my ankles, but I fixed that problem! The socks, I think I got at Fred Meyer. They're a really good place to find knee-high and over-the-knee socks. I used to be SUPER obsessed with knee high socks, and have recently found myself obsessing over them again. The sweater, thrifted, and the shoes, Minnetonka. Oh, and the brooch: handmade. Oh, and Franklin's sweet shirt is from a vintage shop, his jeans are from the thrift store, and his shoes... wait a minute, he isn't wearing any shoes! What a strange young man.

Okay, that's all. I was just really excited to finish that video. Our internet connection is so bad it took over an hour to upload to youtube, haha. We hope you like it! :)

-Elizabeth

Farmhouse Photos: The Picture Wall

The first thing you see when you walk into our house is this narrow bit of wall straight ahead of you. It was pretty bare for a while, and the paint was peeling in spots. It was just a sad, lonely thing to look at. And so, we began our hunt for things to hang on the wall. It still has a way to go before it feels complete, I think, but here is what we've got so far:

From top to bottom: A leftover save-the-date from our wedding, A really old photo of a mountain scene, another old photo of a mountain (but this one, I liberated from an old 70s text book, heehee), an awfully stereotypical rendition of a native American girl that I scored during the western-day sale, a clipping of the Puget Sound from an old map of Washington, and a framed lace doily.

It's weird to think that someone made it and was very proud of it at some point (judging by the frame, anyway) but it still ended up in the thrift store. I initially just bought it for the frame, but the darn thing started to grow on me after a while, so I kept it like it was :)

On another note, it's so weird to see how well our different tastes blend together. Like, Franklin has a very distinct style, and so do I, and we've somehow found this weird balance in between, and it works really well. There's like a really weird rustic, bohemian, kitschy, vintage, lazy professor sort of vibe going on in this house. It's strange, but I really dig it, haha.

-Elizabeth

Snow Day

Going through old files on the 8-track, I stumbled upon a recording Elizabeth and I did last winter when we got snowed in and couldn't get to work; aptly named "Snow Day".
It's kinda loungy, and feels more like a lethargic, lazy summer day in France, rather than a snowed-in excuse to skip work in the Pacific Northwest.
Maybe thats its charm?
Maybe not.

I use the ol' acoustic and bass drum/tambourine set-up, while Elizabeth did the lyrics, sang, and played the keys.

Take a minute out of your hot Labor Day weekend, and have a listen to Snow Day.

-Franklin