tomorrow i will, dammit!:

GET UP at 8:10 alarm. like, actually get up--and i hope to remind myself that playing scrabble on my phone is not getting up in the slightest. i need to make my bed too.

it's so hard to make your bed in the morning. it's hard to make my dorm bed, anyway, because it's low to the ground and against a wall in an awkward way that makes it hard to tuck sheets in satisfactorily. but the feeling of climbing into a fresh bed is worth it.

and then i will SHOWER and pick out a superb outfit. i will tidy my room, completely, and take out the garbage.

then i will go to the print studio, or sketch for a few hours.

future maxine, do these things. seriously.




in other news, sorry to whoever reads this for my lack of posting. i've had a lot of thoughts and have been primping with pride over the state of my current room situation but have been busy doing fun things like creating art, drinking good beer and delving back into the equestrian life! but i have thoughts i'd like to post.

in other other news, namely house keeping crafty news, i hate myself for loving the idea of using mason jars for drinking, except for the ridged rim. but could i be more of an asshole? maybe. they're just so convenient and cute and classy and fit an aesthetic so nicely that i can easily see my kitchen being happy about.

anyway, it's bed time, i love you bye.


edit: i keep getting a bajillion emails because a spambot is leaving me comments suggesting ways said spambot could help with tidying my house. i'm partially hurt that the spambot just didn't get what this blog was going for, and partially annoyed at having to delete the comments from each entry. SIGH. sorry, i know it makes me look so unprofesh and lazy and sketchy to have spammy comments.

bedding

next semester is my last of college. forever! at least college in the sense of on-campus living. regardless, i take the design of my room seriously (especially since i have a really sweet room comin' up). i've also been looking for another bed set for my at-home situation. i think it's a good idea to have two sets per bed.

i've mostly perused target--the novelty of having to travel to another state to go to a basic store, gets me every time! it is surprisingly difficult to find ideal bedding that's in my price range given i don't need it to be entirely perfect.

here are my finds so far (click the pictures to go to the sites):

a little comic-y and maybe overdramatic, but i like it, and the color scheme is just right.

pretty much the same pros and cons as above.

a little more grown up. 

far too expensive, but very classy.

decor: plate wall hangings

grandma's house

photo by me.

more like gaga

this has been my mantra for a few weeks. more like gaga. as amanda palmer put it, gaga is the "queen of plan a" and i should follow her example more. i have a style, and i think it's a good one. there are things i so want to wear, but the strangest fears and anxieties stop me. i've chanted more like gaga in my head a lot, and it is doing wonders.

i'm not a thin girl, and i never have been, and frankly, no matter how much i tried or succeeded, i never really would be. genetics gave me broad shoulders and hips, and that's bone, which is not something you would ever seek to lose. thick thighs and big breasts from my various grandmothers. some of my quirks are about my weight, some are not, like my weird ski jump nose, no thanks to dad. but i shouldn't say things like "no thanks." i am all for the body-love movement. i love seeing confident women, wearing whatever they want, being HB(s)IC.  but for some reason i have a very hard time translating that for myself and my own life.

hating your body is just awful. this is your vessel! and this is your only vessel. you should respect it and love it, and you should adorn it to honor and celebrate it. i feel like i am all set up in so many ways, and yet, at the end of the day, it's nothing but nitpicking for my body. there is nothing fair about that attitude. being chubby says nothing about my character, intelligence, style, creativity or worth. it's just another Thing about me, like how i have blue eyes.

but blah blah society, blah blah norms. chubby, fat, big have all been made into dirty words. i've let them seep into my mind and break me down with that perspective. but i am really trying to reverse that, honestly, fucked up mindset and to begin carrying myself with pride about what a wonderful vessel i've been blessed with, all the wonderful things it has done, all the places we've been together, the way it makes some pieces of clothing just work. besides a bad back (which is my own fault for heavy messenger bags and backpacks), this body has done nothing wrong to me. other people have told me and convinced me that my body is shameful, and have achieved in making me hate a very innocent party.

wrong in so many ways.

more like gaga. fierce. i'm a hot babe. work it.

i bought a bikini, so here's me wearing the top with absolutely no makeup on and super-sleepy face because this was about one hour after waking:

so there's that, internet.

term is almost over

which means i can begin posting in a way that i would be proud of!

some things:

find me at pinterest! what fun! it's like this blog without the witty banter!

lady gaga's new album, born this way, is absolutely incredible.

i have been working on a portable inspiration board. what the hell is that? i will share soon.

today i obtained two silkscreen printing frames that need to be re-screened. not a big deal, and ultimately cheaper than two new screens. this means now i have three screens and all of my projects are going to go so much faster! and being given them was major validation for the love and work i've developed in the world of printing and i am so excited to go onwards with this passion. i've been given permission to screenprint at will next (and final, omg! it's almost over!) term despite not being in a silkscreen or bookmaking class. you go girl (i'm talking to myself.)

i have a new color obsession with gray. on a whim, i bought new sheets for my school twin. i have a deep pink, almost magenta top sheet and a light gray-purple blanket, with black and dark dark purple pillow cases. i can't believe how awesomely these colors go together.

i have so much to say and do regarding craft and art this summer. can't wait to share and blow all of my money at michael's!!!!

dollar store find: wall decals

my room at college has walls of steel. and you're not really supposed to hammer anything into the walls, not even tacks... and even if you do hammer tacks into the wall you will find that the pin part will, in fact, bend, which is fascinating.

i make do in the wall decorating department.

however, i found wall decals at the dollar store the other day. i'd always been curious about how they'd work out but never really had ample funds for them. with the dollar store i accepted they could be more or less useless, but still worth a try.

i'm not entirely sure what theme they were--historical landmarks? there's the colosseum, leaning tower of pisa, vatican, i think the white house. the others are so distorted it's really hard to tell. but i put them up and they're actually quite nice! some of them curled inwards a bit, as expected, but a little scotch tape fixed that.

sorry for the shitty picture... someday soon i'll use a real camera instead of my phone. notice that my boyfriend made the bed, so nice and cozy!

my favorite bedroom

i move around with some frequency. i spend a little more than a month hither and tither, other places a year or two, other places several months, sometimes a few years. my current bedroom is, however, my favorite thus far. i think i have hit a level of aesthetic and design that is functional, comfortable and interesting to me. keeping it clean is another story, but here are some shots of it when clean:

the mirror, i believe, is from bed bath and beyond. the dresser was an awesome find at a thrift store. some candles are from the dollar store, some are saint candles from walgreen's.

where did that chair come from? i really don't know.

note the dollar store jesus image. i love religious kitsch.

walk in closet to my left. it added a suspension rod in the doorway and a silky purple curtain.

i have several bookcases and shelves but it's never enough for books and doodads. 

big comfy bed!

dollar store find: bird glasses

i found these at my local yankee dollar; bought two of them. currently classily half full of mike's hard lemonade cranberry style.

crow & mouse

i screen printed one of my designs on t shirts yesterday just testing the waters of fabricand color. i used regular ol' screen printing acrylics, so i don't know how well it'll do if put through a washing machine. out of curiosity i put a little water on it and rubbed vigorously (yes, that's what she said) and it didn't come off. maybe i'll be pleasantly surprised!

here's me, and one of the shirts:

the colors are fascinating-- the grey looks extremely different on black fabric than gray, and even more different from the paper the original prints are on. i am all about screen printing lately.

spring!

being a vermont native i think i should be able to withstand winter far better than i do. but this winter was an especially painful and frustrating one for those of us in new england (and beyond, but i didn't go beyond, so.) just last week it briefly snowed and i thought i might collapse into a pit of misery.

but today was humid and hot and mostly sunny. and i had an excellent day of driving stick shift well, beating a gnarly headache and spending productive hours in the print shop.

the evening ended an hour (now approaching hour two) after i should've gone to bed, but with an absolutely perfect spring thunderstorm; heat lightning and crazy, whipping rain and all. i was on our porch with my dear friends and dear housemates and sipping a miller high life.

spring is good for my soul.

rabbit light

not just because it's easter (but i guess hey, here's a happy easter lamp), look at this f***ing lamp:

hippity-hop lamp, $88, anthropologie

it's f***ing perfect.

velvet furniture

velvet, i guess, is something of a problematic fabric. it's gorgeous and sometimes totally perfect, but it's a delicate thing. even if you're going for a vintage or antiquated look, velvet can quickly be too much. honestly, i don't even know how to take care of velvet. i had the most perfect velvet (probably faux velvet) dress i got at salvation army that clearly went through the wash more times than it should've. now its texture is bizarre and no matter how i touch it some part of it is going the "wrong way." if anyone knows how to fix that please tell me.

anyway. i like velvet furniture. observe:

edie velvet chaise in ink blue, urban outfitters-$579.00 (yeeeeesh)

(i know i know urban outfitters blah blah) 

•

gray velvet sofa with black piping, everything furniture- $1,000

•

purple velvet-lined trunk, overstock $97

•

wing chair with scroll, newel - $7500

•

wood & velvet arm chair, newel - $6000

kitsch & birds!

so, urban outfitters is definitely not the epitome of a shopping paradise, at least for me. i guess maybe everything is impractically expensive out of irony. joke's on us. i don't really have the budget for it, but their home section is often pretty awesome inspiration for one's own craft adventures or things to find elsewhere. no joke, you could probably find a lot of it at a flea market.

especially these:

love birds salt & pepper shakers @ urban outfitters, $14

i am rather thrilled that these exist. i had found magnetic bunny salt and pepper shakers at kmart, but maybe these are better. 

hello!

first post!
i don't really have much prepared to say about design or style or whatever this blog is about. well, i do. i painted a kickass bird house the other day. whatever. i want to say hello as your blog hostess, web mistress (yikes), and internet buddy.
i love aesthetics. i love seeing how people decorate their homes. it has been something of a lifelong passion, though for many years it was like pulling teeth to get me to clean and organize my room and thus my interest could really only go so far. but now, in whatever form of adulthood i am experiencing, i'm a little obsessed with cleanliness, organization, displaying things in a certain way.  and i have grown very obsessed and confident with the styles and aesthetics i have come to feel, in some way, represent me.

i've always been drawn to things that are layered and complex, elaborate, dramatic and maybe a little romantic. i love cemeteries, old houses, history, dresses, birds, rabbits, deer, horror movies, ghost stories, back roads, new england, traveling, the victorian era, europe, cafes, bookstores and books.. and a lot of other things, but i take all of these elements into account for the way i like to decorate my surroundings and my self.

i like making and decorating and remaking and redecorating and it's something i like to document. and remind myself that i have plenty of things to do when i say "i'm bored."