:: happy may day! ::

Happy May Day, my dears! Hurrah for May! I love May more than any other springtime month… and it’s not just because my birthday is nestled in. hehe.

The weather and general excitement over the springishness is causing me to contemplate season-appropriate accessories. Rhiannon posted this beautiful photo a month ago. It’s been stuck in my mind ever since! I used to wear flowers in my hair occasionally, but during the wintertime I generally don’t–mostly because I think I’d look rather ridiculous traipsing through snow with a flower stuck in my hair! lol.

The other day I was in Michael’s during a routine “eraser-run” for my always-sketching sister, and spotted their single-stem florals were 50% off. So of course, having spotted some pretty silk flowers a few weeks ago (and not wanting to pay full price), I snatched up a few picks; two “gigantic” and a stem of small, red flowers. I snapped the heads off (eek! lol), was happy to discover that they actually glue together the layers of silk flowers now (so they don’t pop apart like they used to when you pulled the wire stems out), and trimmed down the plastic connectors.

[ its a snap! ]

I glued them all to clip-style barrettes (tip: open the barrettes before you glue the flowers on), and used hot glue to attach the flower heads to the barrettes. I know some people use oversized bobby pins instead of barrettes, but I’ve always had a hard time with those sliding out of my hair over time. For under $5, I have five floral barrettes to embellish my hair-do’s! I am definitely dying to wear the large flowers soon–they’re so dramatic! I think, however, I do need to make some in other than pink or red–I have a tendency to get “stuck” on just those hues when it comes to selecting flowers! hehe!

So, now that I’ve dragged you through the tutorial portion of this post, it’s time to get to what you really want to know: the winner of the giveaway! Using the age-old tradition of putting all the names in a bowl and pulling one out (I’m still so old-fashioned this way!), I found the winner…

Renee!!!

Congrats!!! I think these little drawings are way too much fun; perhaps I’ll have another later this month. So keep your eyes peeled!

Have a lovely Thursday… I shall be back tomorrow with my weekly round up of links and other inspiration; and perhaps some reporting on the craft/creativity front!

 

:: so much excitement!! ::

After days of furious coding, databases crashing (not my fault…), late nights, and trying not to change the design yet again, I have a portfolio website!

I’m so ecstatic! In the process I also moved my blog, and the new address is: http://blog.caseybrowndesigns.com. As with my last blog-move, I’ll be posting in conjunction with the “old” blog for a week, and then will permanently move to the new home. So please adjust your feeds (sorry about this–I know it’s so annoying!).

So what do you think? I’ve been attempting to move away from my Elegant Musings moniker for awhile; it’s been an online identity I’ve had since my late teens and doesn’t quite fit anymore. Its a huge leap of faith for me–I’m really nervous people will view my blog/work differently (in a less friendly/approachable way; does that make sense?). But after talking with Kate a few weeks back about establishing an professional presence online, I know that this is the right move. Especially as I’ve been getting more work in the graphic design field and realizing that I really needed a portfolio!

There will be a few changes to the site and blog. Elegant Musings will still be maintained as a place to house my favorite inspiration images. I love sharing those with y’all! The site will probably be restructured later this year to reflect the changes, but will remain at it’s current address.

Here’s a preview of some of the exciting stuff I’m working on for the new portfolio and revamped blog!

– The blog will be restructured a tiny bit. I still plan on writing about my sewing and other projects, but I also really want to bring in topics like art and design; two things that are near and dear to my heart, yet I have rarely talked about online. I think I feel somewhat shy about thrusting them on my blog readers, since my blogging to this point has been so creativity-centric. Well, I guess it’ll still stay creative–just an expanded definition!

– I’ll also occasionally write about my latest projects/commissions. I realized after I posted Kate’s site that most of you had no idea I do this! hehe. I guess it’s because I have been kind of silent on that aspect, mostly because the freelance work didn’t start coming my way until January. So it’s all still new to me!

– There will be more freebies to download over the course of the summer. I have a lot of desktop backgrounds and other miscellaneous images/resources I’ve created over the years that I’m dying to share with y’all!

I want to thank everyone who has encouraged me (directly or not) during this process! Especially Kate for encouraging me to take the leap into my new identity, and Nubby Twiglet’s sage advice again and again about creating an effective website. And thank you all for following me around the last year as I’ve transitioned and been seeking to find my place in life. It really means a lot to me to have such a wonderful support system. You all are so sweet!

As of tomorrow, I’ll be back to my normal, blogging schedule–sorry about the lack of posts lately! I hope you have had a lovely weekend…

 

:: hippity-hop ::

[ snippets of Kate’s website ]

Just popping up from my little hiding-spot behind my computer screen! I’ve spent a good deal of the week immersed in coding and design… In fact, I think I’ve become a wee bit obsessive lately–formatting and editing code until the wee hours. hehe! Anyway, I just finished working on a website for the lovely Kate! Her photography is really gorgeous–I just love the lush colors and the way she captures the scene. I was so tickled that she asked me to do this for her–go check out her beautiful work!

[ a sneak-peek at my portfolio-in-progress! ]

I’m also busily working on my own website as I have little snippets of time. I think I must be the pickiest “client” ever–I’ve gone through four different design ideas in as many weeks! lol. I finally hit on a look that I feel both captures my design sensibilities, and allows my portfolio to be the main focus. Hopefully that’ll be up in a few weeks…

Anyway, I’m keeping this rather short because the Beau is visiting for a super-short weekend! I haven’t seen him in nearly a month, though it seems quite longer. We’re trying to cram all kinds of things in the couple of days he’s back: errands, catching up on ‘news’ and other important-things, celebrating his birthday… Problem is I’ve only got one half of his birthday gift. I purchased an amazing tshirt from Poison Apple Shirts, but the dive knife I wanted to get him isn’t in the local shop anymore. Oh well… I’m sure i can always find something.

Enjoy this week’s links. I hope you all have a absolutely fantastic weekend!!

♥ tutorial of recycling magazine pages into bubble mailers!
♥ I love the simplicity of this artist’s work [ via ]
♥ turn an old, chipped or broken platter into a mirror
♥ this photography is breathtaking [ via ]
♥ nubby kindly answered my font question with some fantastic resources!
♥ love the colors and linework of this art
♥ a super-helpful website/blog/book on running your own business

Cheers!

[ email me ]

p.s. Did you know Wendy’s new book is out??? I don’t know about you, but I’m saving up my pennies for this one!

 

:: dress-spiration! ::

[ this has nothing to do with dresses–well not really; except these are the latest additions to the inspiration notebook! ]

The weekend is over already–I can’t believe it’s flown by. And my goodness–it’s already the middle of April! Thankfully, I did get a lot done on my research paper over the weekend; it was something I wasn’t looking forward to doing, if only because the topic was one I didn’t feel I had a good handle on. Happily I finished it by late yesterday and have handed it off to The Editor (aka my younger sister–she’s a real whiz at proofreading/editing!).

In the midst of being stuck for a few hours on the last page (why is it always the last one that is the hardest?!), I too a little time off to refocus and bring some clarity to my words. A few evenings ago, I struck upon the idea of refashioning this recent thrift find:

Its a very bright, vintage robe! I found it a couple weeks ago while thrifting, and was quite smitten with the shades of pink (it reminds me of the gorgeous azalea blossoms that are due to pop out all over the yards here in a few weeks!). I don’t use robes, however, so it was going to be one of those “pretty” things that just takes up space. Which right now is at a premium (you don’t want to know how packed my closet is!! hehe!). So, I thought, why not make a dress out of it?

The end result isn’t that radical of a change, but I think makes for a very fun evening frock. I basically snipped off 15” from the hem, turned it up 2-¼” and hand hemmed it (the thing that took the longest… but looks very nice!). I added a snap to the cross-over so it stays snugly in place. The sleeve I trimmed down to elbow length and reattached the original cuffs. Quick and easy!

Lately I’ve been feeling quite guilty about simply not having the time to sew from scratch (aka a length of yardage, a sewing pattern–you know, actually cutting out a pattern and constructing it from the flat pieces! lol!). But as my mom said: why sew from scratch when you can refashion successfully?! Hmm… sounds like good sense to me!

Finally, here is today’s Vintage Monday image!! I’ve lately been on a 1950’s kick–full skirts, cinched waist, trawling through Ebay trying to find the “perfect” 50’s summer frock! hehe! I love all the details on these; simple yet elegant. Enjoy.

Cheers!

[ email me ]