Today when I stepped outside, I smelt spring and was about as happy as this baby and her camel:
I was outside in a dress, with bare legs and I was starting to believe this day would never come. I swear if I see a single snowflake before Christmas next year, I will walk all the way back to California.
Anyways, after a few hours doing this:
I was excited to bust out all the spring/summer clothes I’ve been daydreaming about and this is what I came up with:
I am so so excited to be collaborating again with the AMAZING Shana, and her equally amazing blog: The Mom Edit on a series of monthly fashion themed art pieces.
Shana’s latest spring OOTD on the mom edit.
I love being able to collaborate with Shana. She has been an enthusiastic supporter and an advocate for me and my art, even when I usually can’t stand whatever it is I’ve made. supporter and cheerleader She is passionate, enthusiastic and just all around bad ass. I love all of her style and she approaches each post with honesty and frankness about life that makes me laugh out loud.
I was really struggling creatively the last few months and this collaboration has breathed new life into my art and given me a new purpose and direction. This project has also been hands down the hardest artistic challenge I’ve undertaken simply because it’s so scary for me to have my artwork “out there” to be seen and judged. I usually have two modes: 1) being super impulsive about what I publish on social media and then afterwards feeling embarrassed or 2) overthinking and analyzing every thing I make until I just stop mid-way through and never finish it.
Here is the March art piece I did for The Mom Edit along with Shana’s picks to go along with it:
She is an architect and urban designer with a passion for vibrant colors and a sense of style that is one of a kind. I first discovered her via Instagram @monlinglee fell instantly in love with every single one of her photos. She combines her unique and brilliantly colored personal style in perfectly coordinated urban environments.
By following her instagram account, I found out that she was teaming up with J. Crew to “Test-drive” Their new spring accessories on their blog: hello.jcrew.com. And was inspired to try to create my own color blocked outfit with my skirt I bought for a penny at Nordstroms Rack. JCrew and Monling Lee are having an instagram contest on how where you wear (and pair, and pile on) your J.Crew accessories with the hashtags #ACCESSORYFIX and #JCREWCONTEST for a chance to win one of three $1,500 shopping sprees. And although I don’t have a new spring accessory to actually join in…here are my outfits:
Today, the birds were chirping and the sun was out and the snow is melting into muddy lakes, but if that means spring is on it’s way…I’ll take it.
Some much needed refreshing of my studio walls and work space. I’d like to try and change my art wall at least once a month but we’ll see how that goes!
This one day of sunny weather has got me feeling all sorts of alive again.
Hallelujah! Finally, a shoe trend I can really get behind. Comfy? check. Stylish? Check. Versatile? Check. Fun? Check.
I’m a sucker for all things colorful and loud (It’s a problem I’m working on). so while scrolling through Free Peoples’ amazing online shoe collection, I stumbled across these bad boys:
and got about as excited as a guniea pig getting a special carrot treat:
So, I guess you could I got pretty excited. And because there was no way I was letting those suckers get away, I added them to my little shopping cart and kept scrolling and immediately saw these Asics trainers (also on free people):
It’s like they were made for me..kind of tacky and bright blue. So you can imagine how excited I was at this point:
happy otter level of excitement.
I figured since I found two pair of sneakers I loved by just looking at Free People, there were probably more I might love even more available to me on the world wide web….
Fast forward to about 4 hours later where I had roughly 20 different sneakers in 10 different shopping carts. Here are some of my favorites I found:
After my evening of scouring the internet for the best and the brightest sneakers, I had to narrow down my options. I told myself I would only get one pair but my materialistic impulses won out in the end and I got two pairs and Interestingly enough, I ended up buying the first two pairs I saw on Free People. I really like idea of pairing white jeans with the Asics but of course it snowed the day I got them in the mail and the the ground was covered in over 6 inches of fresh snow, but not one to give up easy, I jumped!
And although I found dry ground when I was trying out my OTHER new pair, I liked how the first picture turned out so I jumped again!
But here’s to hoping this trend sticks around for a bit so I can justify getting another pair…maybe purple? Or Turquoise?? The possibilities are endless.
it’s that time of the year when I begin to feel even more crazy than usual.I like winter but, a Midwest winter is a different kind of beast. There has been snow on the ground basically since Thanksgiving and by Mid-February the temperatures average below freezing and that doesn’t even include the windchill.
Going outside means putting on every single warm-ish item I can find in my closet and looking like Joey from the Friends episode where he puts on all of Chandler’s clothes:
and then on top of that, there’s the robber face masks, scarves, gloves and beanies to cover any exposed extremities, like kitty:
I like hunkering down and having an excuse to do nothing, and a snow storm is the ultimate laziness excuse but even that is has gotten old by now and I’ve developed a serious case of cabin fever, going nuts, shuffling around the house, pacing in circles, starting out at the snow for long periods of time, and murmuring unhappily to myself (even more than usual). My boyfriend took a picture of me while I was peeking in on him just yesterday:
har. har.
all that just to say that my already questionable fashion taste is even more questionable than usual, given the previously stated circumstances. But, this led me to mixing prints and layering in a way that I otherwise wouldn’t have out of boredom, coldness, or craziness….
I don’t wear white often because of a few reasons (like being unable to go more than 10 minutes without spilling something) but the after Labor Day rule isn’t one of them . But, I’ve seen a lot of cool styling this winter with white denim or trousers and I don’t know if it’s becoming more fashionably acceptable to wear white after the designated time. I kind of think wearing white is perfect in the winter, especially when I am getting sick of all the black I wear in mourning for the summer.
so here are three different ways to casually style white denim jeans for winter wear….
How do you guys feel about white denim during winter? Yay or nay??
Greetings from Arizona! I am not used to this warm, winter weather but I am definitely making the most of it. It’s nice to see the sun and to remember there is such a thing as summer….
I’m trying out something different and just going to post more simple, short OOTD (outfit of the day) posts with the outfit details…bc sometimes I can’t think of anything really interesting to write about the outfit…unless you guys think of something.
overside baggy cardigan, tights and knee high stockingsdeep, double side split top, tights and knee high stockings
I put together a little Holiday Themed Art Journal Idea List, some of the ideas are a bit simple but fun.
I always find myself journaling and sketching a lot over the Christmas and New Years breaks. I think it’s my way of reflecting on everything that happened over the past year as well as gearing up for the new year ahead (also because I usually like to start the new new calendar year off with a fresh journal so I try to fill up the remaining pages in the old one). Also, I am one of those people who religiously comes up with New Years Resolutions every year…The older I get, the more it’s becoming a bucket list and a reminder for me that life is moving fast. I am a big list person too…I just feel better about my lack of organizational skills when I can cross off even the most mundane tasks.
I also rounded up some of my favorite journal pages from this year….they are nothing like some of the pages I see of other artists on pinterest or tumblr…but they make me happy 🙂 Some of them can fit as examples for the Winter themed list so Ill note them if they do…
e e cummings mixed media art journal collage page
One of my favorite things to do is write down inspiring quotes, passages, poems r song lyrics I come across and then create some sort of art around it.
ink and mixed media watercolor shape collage with quotewatercolor flower bouquet and vasesucculent and cacti plantersfloral watercolor artist sketchbook page
I really, really love the midi dress look and I emphasis the word look because the way a midi dress looks on a model (stunning) is not how a midi LOOKS on me. The models’ curves (or lack of them) are perfectly highlighted in the form fitting style of a midi and the length accentuates their slim legs. I don’t know if I really thought that I would look the same as the 100 pound 5ft 9 model did in the same midi.
Here is the midi dress I purchased:
Asos Midi Cami Body Conscious Dress
but…SURPRISE! I didn’t look anything like the model. It accentuated my curves alright, every friggin nook and cranny was on display. It probably didn’t help that the midi I bought was thin jersey fabric, which is probably one of the least forgiving fabrics there is. So I buried the dress in the back of my closet and tried to forget I ever thought I could pull the look off.
The thing is…I’ve never liked my body, but I also think most women in America have struggled with loving and accepting their bodies at some point. I’ve been working up to writing about the journey I am on to loving myself and it’s been a long, bloody battle for me but….(and I swear all this has to it has to do with the midi dress!)
But since I turning 30 this year, it really hit me how much of life I have wasted and how many experiences I missed out on because I’ve been to busy disliking myself and caring to much what people think.Doing these self-absorbed, materialistic Personal Style posts was a coconscious decision of mine to do what makes me happy and to (try) not to worry about whether or not people like it. Also, it’s nice to actually start caring about myself again 🙂
So, when cleaning up my closet, I stumbling on the crumpled up midi dress of disappointment and gave it another go (outfitted in my spanx body armor) and decided to give it another try and I came up with a few different ways to wear a form fitting midi with more confidence.
#1 Oversized Cardigans like this one from Revolve Clothing, are your friends.
Wearing a big, drapey cardigan helps me feel like I have a layer of protection and it keeps all my lumpy areas that I am self-conscious about covered. But the open front still shows off the cute length and style of the midi.
#2 Wearing shoes with heels (booties are my favorite for winter) add much needed length to your frame.
Here are a few pair of booties that give me the warm fuzzies and that I think would look good with a a casual style midi dress:
Most midis cut off at around calf-level (depending on height) which I love but also has the tendency to make legs look shorter and bulkier.
#3 Layer it up to create different looks.
A midi is fun to play around with different looks and is a versatile dress that can be simple and classic or fun and trendy. Adding colorful layers, like my favorite crazy plaid pants, creates lines, and helps to “distract” the eye from those worry areas.
A split sided basic top is perfect to throw over a midi because it covers my least favorite areas (my tummy and the booty) and I like the look it creates.
#4: Spanx is also your friend.
Good ole trusty spanx, instilling confidence into the self-conscious since the dawning of time.
I was excited to bust out all the spring/summer clothes I’ve been daydreaming about and this is what I came up with:
This one day of sunny weather has got me feeling all sorts of alive again. 
, available on Amazon for $85.00
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Here are a few similiar/different options of the same outfit:
jessbobess 
